Maximum Ride: The Guardian Experiment
by alpha-range
Summary: What would have happened if Jeb had only busted Max and Fang out of The School? How would TAE have been different? Would the two of them have been able to live happily, or would the erasers of caught up with them eventually? Minor Fax, more later.
1. Just Another Day

**Maximum Ride: The Guardian Experiment.**

**Summary:**

What would have happened if Jeb had only busted Max and Fang out of The School? How would TAE have been different? Would the two of them have been able to live happily, or would the erasers of caught up with them eventually? Minor Fax, more as the story progresses. Flock comes in later. Pieces, such as the dream in chapter one, will be out of the original books- they will simply be slightly edited, the rest is all mine.

* * *

**Notes:**

Okay, so I've had this in the works for quite some time now, and I know that a few of you -- at least -- have been expecting it. If you happen to have just stumbled upon it, let me know what you think, alright? Okay, so I know I said that I wasn't going to post it until it's finished, but then I suddenly realised that there was no point in even finishing it if no-one was going to read it, you know? So here's the first chapter. Want to read some more? Let me know! I'll work on the rest, and post them on up if I get a good response for this chapter. This does mean that theres' going to be a slight delay between this chapter and the next one, but hopefully not _too_ long!

It's really important that you let me know if you want more, because if there's not enough response then I'll cancel the story, and concentrate on my own novel, instead (like any sane person would to begin with)!

Just a short one to start with.

Thanks in advance, Nixxie x

* * *

**Chapter One- Just Another Day**

'_Run! come on, run! You know you can do it!'_

_I gulped deep lungfuls of air. My brain was on hyperdrive; I was racing for my life. My one goal was to escape- nothing else mattered. _

_My arms being scratched to ribbons from a briar that I'd run through? No biggie. My bare feet hitting every sharp rock, rough root and pointed stick? Not a problem. My lungs burning with a need for air? I could deal. As long as I put as much distance as possible between me and the Erasers. _

_Yeah. Erasers, mutants: half-men, half-wolf, usually armed, and always bloodthirsty. Right now, they were after me. _

_See? That snaps everything into perspective. _

'_Run. You're faster than they are- you can outrun anyone!' My mental coaching wasn't really helping- I'd never been this far away before. I was totally lost. Still, my arms pumped by my sides, my feet crashed though the underbrush and my eyes scanned anxiously in the half-light of the forest. I could outrun them. I could find a clearly with enough space for me to—_

'_Oh, no. Oh, no.' The unearthly baying of bloodhounds on the scent wailed through the trees and I felt sick. I could outrun men- I was built to- but there was no way that I could outrun a big dog; not even Fang could do that, and he'd long since proven that he was faster than I was._

'_Dogs, dogs, go away- let me live another day.' They were getting closer. The light was getting brighter in front of me- a clearing? Please, please let it be a clearing. A clearing could save me. _

_I burst through the trees, chest heaving, and a thin sheen of cold sweat on my skin._

'_Yes!' I thought, and then, when reality caught up to me, 'No! Oh, no!" I skidded to a halt, my arms waving as my feet back-pedalled in the rocky dirt. I'd been wrong. It wasn't a clearing, in fact, the space before me was a cliff; a sheared face of rock that dropped to an unseeable floor hundreds of feet below. In back of me, the woods were riddled with drooling, baying bloodhounds, and psycho Erasers with guns, and every intention of using them._

_Both options stank._

_The dogs were yelping excitedly now, they'd found their prey: me._

_There was no choice, really- if you were me, you'd have done the same thing. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and dived off the cliff face- arms spread and face to the sky. _

_Behind me the Erasers were screamed angrily, and the dogs baying had become hysterical. For a second, there was peace- the wind on my face, the sun on my back, and the knowledge that they couldn't reach me now. _

_Then, taking another deep breath, I opened my wings as hard and fast as I could. Thirteen-feet across and white, with tan, mottled brown and black patches and speckles, they caught the air, and I was suddenly yanked upwards- hard, as if a parachute had just opened. _

'_Note to self:' I thought, feeling the dull ache and sting of my unsteady wings. 'No sudden unfurling.'_

_Wincing, I pushed downward with all of my strength, then upwards, and then back down again. If I'd thought falling felt good, it was nothing compared to flying- it was something that Fang and I had only dreamed of, spreading our wings and taking to the skies. _

_The cliff floor, draped in shadow, seemed to recede beneath me as I laughed and surged upwards- feeling the pull of my muscles, the air whistling through my secondary feathers and the breeze drying the sweat on my face. _

_I soared upwards; past the cliff face, past the snarling Erasers, and past the baying bloodhounds. This was what freedom felt like- I was sure of it. And then one of the Erasers raised his gun, malicious intent clear on his face as a small, red dot appeared on my nightgown._

'_Not today, you jerk.' I thought, as I veered sharply west- so that the sun was in his hate-crazed eyes. 'I'm not going to die today.'_

* * *

I jolted upright in bed, gasping, and unable to help but glance down at my bed shirt- there was no red laser dot there, and I fell back on my bed as relief filled me. There was a long moment as I simply lay there, gasping for breath and trying to slow the erratic beating of my heart.

God, I hated that nightmare. Every time it was the same: the same woods, the same nightgown that I would never wear, the same eraser that pointed his gun right at my chest. Finally, I managed to collect myself, and glanced over to where Fang was usually asleep. His bed was empty, and neatly made- I knew that if it was up to him, then our room would have been so messy that we'd have been unable to see the floor, but since Jeb had disappeared, I'd taken over leadership duties, and Fang had gone out of his way to follow my command.

Jeb. God, even thinking about him hurt. He'd been the whitecoat that had busted out of the despicable place that we'd been imprisoned in for the first ten years of our lives. He'd saved us, and then, two years ago, he'd disappeared. For a while, Fang and I had kidded ourselves into believing that he would come back- he never had, and we'd had to come to realise that he was dead.

He'd always said that death was the only thing that would keep him from the two of us, and it was the only logical explanation for his disappearance. But, oh, God, it _hurt_. He'd raised us like we were his own kids, and he'd been the only father-like figure that we'd even known. He'd taught us everything that he knew, and he'd paid the ultimate price for it.

His life.

Sighing, I stood up and headed out into the long corridor. The house itself held five bedrooms, one of which was deemed out of bounds- it was Jeb's old room. Three of them were used mainly for storage purposes, and Fang and I shared the last one. Jeb had offered to give us our own rooms, and seemed reluctant to allow us to share when we insisted.

Truth was, Fang and I had been in the same holding room at The School for as long as I could remember, and I wasn't sure that I could sleep without him there. He felt the same, and both of us had ignored how Jeb had made it clear that it wasn't normal for two fifteen-year-olds who were completely unrelated to share a room. He didn't seem to understand, in situations like that, that we weren't exactly normal, either.

Besides from the bedroom that we shared, the only other rooms in the house that were regularly used were the two bathrooms- one on either side of our room- the lounge, and the kitchen. The TV was playing in the longue, but my Fang-o-meter was insisting that he was in the kitchen, so I headed that way instead.

It was early, and he hadn't bothered to turn the light on, so the kitchen was dark. With his dark hair, dark eyes, lightly tanned skin and his black wings slightly unfurled, a human coming into the kitchen wouldn't have seen him at all. My heightened eyesight, and amazing night vision, allowed me to recognise that he was sat in his usual chair, eating a bowl of cereal as silently as he did everything else.

Wordlessly, I headed over to the cupboard above the sink and grabbed a bowl and two glasses before making myself a bowl of cereal- officially emptying the house of food- and pouring a glass of orange juice for the both of us. Once content with my bland breakfast, I slipped into my normal chair, at the far left hand side of the table, opposite Fang, and began to eat- surprised to find that I wasn't particularly hungry.

Being a bird-kid, I needed a lot of calories, so that in itself was a miracle.

I felt Fang studying me as he took a long drink from his juice, but I kept my head down- letting my dirty blonde hair fall down so that it covered most of my face.

"The Nightmare again?" He asked, after a long moment. I nodded slightly.

"I don't understand why I keep having it- or why it feels so real." I muttered pushing the cereal around in my bowl, before pushing said bowl over to Fang. He glanced between me and the bowl.

"I'm not hungry, so you can have my share. And don't even try and tell me you're not hungry, you could of happily filled your bowl to the brim to start with, you shouldn't have left some for me. We need to go shopping, anyways."

"In which case, you're going to need your energy." He reasoned, pushing the bowl back to me. I simply shook my head and pushed the bowl back to him.

"Forget it. I'm going to take a shower- we're leaving in half an hour." I said, standing and heading out.

"Max-" Fang called after me, but I ignored him, and headed into the bathroom regardless.

* * *

Exactly half an hour later, Fang and I headed out of the door. Shopping was something that we both hated, so we left it as long as we possibly could- unfortunately, that meant that when we did go, we had to re-stock the entire house, so we were both wearing backpacks that, as of yet, only contained our windbreakers.

The revelation that we needed to go clothes shopping wasn't exactly as surprising as frustrating, and the shopping trip soon became an overnight venture into civilisation, something that was both displeasing and necessary. Thankfully, the town closest to our little E-shaped house had a little motel, and enough shops to satisfy all of our needs, so the trip wasn't any longer.

We had a plan that we always stuck to on trips like this. We set out early on the morning of day one (which, in this instance, was today) and spent the morning flying for town. Upon reaching the town, we grabbed a bite to eat, and then booked our hotel room. The afternoon and evening of day one was spent shopping for clothes. We then took all of the shopping back to the motel, and spent the night there.

The entirety of Day two was spent shopping for everything else, and we always returned to the motel room to pick up our stuff and check out at seven O'clock- meaning that we were back home by midnight to one in the morning at the latest.

It was a routine that Jeb had taught us, and one that had stuck- we'd never deemed it necessary to change it.

"How long have we been flying for?" Fang asked, he was soaring above and slightly in front of me- I knew that he was trying his best to keep most of the December wind off me, and was both slightly annoyed and grateful. I mentioned neither feeling, and instead, consulted my watch.

"About four and a bit hours- we should be there in half an hour or so." I answered after quickly doing the math in my head. The flight there was always shorter than the flight back, simply because on the way back we were so heavily weighted down.

I used the half hour to mentally assess how much money we had left. Fang and I both had anywhere between a thousand to three thousand dollars on us each, but since both of us ate, on average, four times the normal amount as normal people, at least $1600 of that would be spent on groceries tomorrow- and would last us maybe a little longer than a month.

I quickly counted up my money, and saw Fang do the same out of the corner of my eye- I had two-thousand and five hundred, and Fang announced that he had a nicely rounded three-thousand. I did the math in my head, and figured out that we would have roughly $3900 to spend on the motel room, meals and clothes- which wasn't a bad sum, when it came down to it.

Besides, if the prices for the motel were the same, then that would only cost 150 dollars, which still left us with $3750. If we budgeted to $1000 dollars max on new clothes (including shoes and jackets) then we'd still have $2750 spare money-minus however much our meals cost- until we next raided the still-nearly-full-to-the-brim locker where Jeb had kept all his money. How he'd earnt so much, I wasn't sure, but we were making it last as long as we could.

We were in deep trouble when the money ran out.

Finally, with the mental maths out of the way- thank God for our high IQs- the town came into sight, and I spotted the familiar alley behind the all-you-can-eat buffet, and we touched down. It took us only a few minutes to remove our windbreakers from our bags and slip them on to cover our wings, before the two of us headed inside.

Thankfully, the queue was fairly small, and they had extra staff on hand, so Fang and I were seated and eating quickly- although my paranoia made the whole experience a bit more agitating than it should have been, and constant three-sixties interrupted my eating a little. We ate quickly, and found ourselves in our motel room within the hour. We dumped our backpacks, and some of the money- in well hidden places, of course- there, and headed out for the first, and worst, chore of the trip.

Clothes shopping.

The clothes shops were clearly the most well-off shops for miles around, with a constant stream of customers that made me either want to scream, or hit someone. Fang seemed to sense my mood, and stuck nearby, keeping a reassuring hand on my shoulder as we searched ruthlessly for clothes.

By the end of the day I had: four new t-shirts, two new bras, two new packs of underwear, three new tank tops, two new hoodies, two new windbreakers, three new pairs of jeans, a new pair of combat boots and a new backpack (since my old one was practically falling apart). Fang had- with the noted exception of the bras and tank tops- virtually the same as me, but in black, of course.

We also ended up buying new toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste and hairbrushes- all of the stuff that we never seemed to remember, and with sore feet and aching arms from carrying the bags, we headed back to the motel to drop everything off.

Dinner was an easy enough obstacle to tackle, and we simply called in for room service- which, according to the bed-side menu, delivered with a smile- and ate until we were stuffed before finally retiring to bed with full bellies, and shopping bags full of new clothes.

For the first time in weeks, I slept without a nightmare.


	2. Let The Fun Begin

**Chapter Two- Let the Fun Begin**

I awoke, as always, when the first rays of sunshine splayed through the open curtains.

Max's rule number one for inside living: always sleep with the curtains open. If something's coming for you, it's best that you can see them coming.

Fang was- strangely- already awake, and studying me from the doorway, as I stretched and sat up. I hated to admit it, but the motel bed was a lot comfier than my one back home- I'd managed to burst a spring in the one back home, or whatever, and so spent most of my night with a spring digging into one of my wings. Fang had offered to trade, but I hadn't let him, and had promptly shot the idea of buying a new one down.

How were we supposed to carry a _mattress_ back to the house?

"No nightmares." He commented, as he set about making breakfast in the conjoined kitchen- I grinned at him.

"No nightmares." I confirmed, before heading to the bathroom- ready to take a shower.

When I was clean, and happily dressed in some of my new clothes, I headed into the kitchen, braiding my still damp and curly hair into a long braid as I did so. It was a lot longer than I usually wore it, reaching to almost mid-back, and I knew that it wouldn't be long before I had to hack it off with the scissors- which we'd thought to buy a new pair of yesterday- or, alternatively, a knife of some description.

That was the one thing that we always struggled to buy. When Jeb had been living with us, he'd brought a new set of knives- both for the kitchen, and for self-defence purposes- every time he went shopping; saying he'd rather that we had too many sharp ones than not enough blunt ones. The first shopping trip after he'd left we'd tried to buy some, and the man at the counter had laughed in our face and told us to wait until we were eighteen. Apparently, he wasn't allowed to sell knives to minors- whatever than meant.

In the end, we'd learnt to put to good use the skills Jeb had taught us in the art of shoplifting. I didn't like shoplifting, don't get me wrong, but the knives were essential to our survival- when caught between survival and my moral standard, I almost always chose survival. Sorry about that, shopkeepers of America.

Fang had set up breakfast, and had really tried his best to cook. Of all of the things that Jeb had taught us for survival reasons, cooking was the one class that Fang and I had both failed at. Neither of us could cook anything, honestly, although Fang maintained that he was the better cook of the two of us; we were lucky if we didn't burn toast- which, thankfully, Fang had successfully managed today.

He'd obviously gone digging through the food supplied by the motel, and found some strawberry jam, too- although he'd clearly used almost the whole bag of bread between the two of us. I smiled my thanks at him as I slid into my seat and began digging through the mountain of jammy toast that he'd prepared for me.

It was completely typical of Fang to have thought about me. We'd grown up knowing that the only people we could really depend on, when it came down to it, were each other; Jeb had often joked that we were one person that had been split into two bodies- sometimes, I wondered if that was true. Maybe that had just been another part of the experimentation that we'd endured as children?

Probably not, but it was an interesting- if not morbid- concept. I'd be sure to mention it to the scientists next time they kidnapped us and performed inhumane tests on us to see what made us tick.

We looked out for each other, and were practically inseparable. In fact, the whitecoats had noticed it, too- and I'd spent the best part of the year between my fifth and sixth birthdays (which, of course, I knew nothing about back then) crammed into a size small dog crate with Fang. It was a bit of a squeeze, and when Jeb had found out (apparently he'd been away on a research project at the time) the other whitecoats were told to give us our individual cages back.

Not that either of us minded sharing, honestly.

"You should shower, and then we can head out." I told Fang, as he sat back in his chair and finished the last of his orange juice. He nodded, and stood- heading to the bathroom as I finished my food and carried the dishes to the sink. I ran some hot water and dumped them in, but made no effort to wash them- if I didn't have time to do them later than the housekeeping staff should simply consider themselves lucky that I'd put them in to soak- I was sure that it was more than most people who stayed here did.

Content that I'd done my good deed for the day, I packed the clothes from our shopping trip yesterday into our backpacks, and, content with the surprisingly large amount of room left at the top of both, I zipped them shut and grabbed the rest of the money. My new hoodie and windbreaker were warm, and I sighed happily as I pulled them on- my last move was to dump my old combat boots in the bin, and slip my new ones on my feet.

I was just tying the laces when Fang emerged, freshly dressed, and with the combat boots in his hand- he nodded his thanks when he saw the packed backpack, and quickly pulled on his boots.

Content that we weren't forgetting anything, we headed out.

* * *

Shopping, I soon remembered, was the most tedious thing in the world. It didn't help that they'd re-done the supermarket since we were last here, so when we went to what used to be the cereal aisle, we were faced with toilet roll.

"Well," I sighed, rolling my eyes as I looked at Fang. "This sucks."

"No kidding," Was Fang's response, he grabbed the handles of the trolley, and started steering it out of the way- as was habit, I kept a hold of the side with one hand, whilst allowing my eyes my eyes to wander the shelves in search of cereal. Generally speaking, Fang was pretty good at steering the trolley in a way that meant that I wasn't going to bang into anyone, and I trusted him completely.

It must have been an off day for him, because half way down the aisle, I felt myself slam into somebody, and a moment later, heard the crash of two shopping trolleys colliding forcefully. The person that I'd walked into was both bigger and heavier than me, and I felt myself begin to fall backwards only a second or so after we'd first smacked together. I thought, for a second, that I was going to find out just how cold the cheap linoleum flooring was, and then the still unidentified stranger grabbed the tops of my arms to steady me.

I heard Fang cursing in the background, and assumed that he was ensuring that the trolley hadn't been completely destroyed in the crash.

Getting my balance back, I shook my head slightly, and stepped back to survey the damage. The person that had both collided with me, and saved me from the embarrassment of falling, was a guy- probably on a few years older than me- he seemed to have been doing the same thing as me, and a woman, who I presumed to be his mother, was now helping Fang sort out which supplies belonged in which dented trolley.

Fang was looking increasingly annoyed in the situation, and I caught his eye as he glanced up to check that I was alright.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." The guy who I had crashed into said, clearly embarrassed at having walked into me.

"Honestly, neither was I. Don't worry about it, let's just get everything back where it's supposed to go." I said, forcing a smile, as I turned and began to help Fang collect up the shopping and put it back in the trolley. Neither of us was particularly happy with this situation, and I had a strange feeling that I was missing something that should me incredibly obvious. The annoying part being, I had absolutely no clue what I was missing, just that there was _something_.

Finally content that everything was back in the trolley, and realising that the cereal- which was last on our list- was right in front of us, Fang and I threw a few (twelve) boxes into the trolley, and headed to the cashier. I shifted uncomfortably as she started ringing our stuff up, and Fang noticed.

"You're wigging out." He said under his breath, pausing to throw a couple of handfuls of chocolate bars onto the counter. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said, and then, when he shot be a look that said _'You can't lie to me, so don't even try it.'_ , "I don't know. Something feels... wrong."

He frowned, and did a three-sixty, but clearly- much like myself- found nothing. "Forget it," I said. "It's probably just a mix of being tired and being in a crowded place- probably nothing." I reasoned.

Fang didn't seem convinced, but said nothing more as we packed the scanned shopping into bags. It was boring, and tedious, but we made sure to double-pack everything, so that if a handle or something snapped whilst we were flying our falling groceries weren't going to kill somebody or anything. Then again, wouldn't that be a cool thing to have on your death certificate?

_Killed by falling groceries of an unknown origin._

I accidentally snorted out loud, and Fang turned to look at me, an eyebrow raised in the Fang version of pure confusion.

"I was thinking about what would happen if one of the bags split or something on the way home and we hadn't double packed." I said, grinning at him lightly.

"Yeah. How fun that would be: _Killed by fallen groceries of an unknown origin_." Sometimes, I swear that boy can read my mind. I nodded, and the two of us shared a private laugh- as the cashier finished ringing up our shopping.

"That'll be-" She seemed to choke, looking at the screen which very clearly read _$1956.48_. I grinned as I pulled the money out of my pocket and handed it over. She glanced between the screen and the money for a moment before seeming to pull herself together, and set about sorting our change out. She looked utterly thrilled, and I found myself wondering if she got a bonus if a customer spent a certain amount or something.

I probably should have been bothered that we'd gone over budget- by $356.48, actually- but when I reasoned that it was probably the last-second selection of chocolate bars that Fang had thrown into the mix that had tipped the balance so drastically, I couldn't bring myself to care.

I hadn't had chocolate in months, and I was practically drooling just thinking about it. For some reason, chocolate never seemed to last long with the two of us- no matter how efficiently we planned our rationing. I kind of thought that it had to do with both of us eating it as a sneaky mid-night snack every night when we had it.

It was probably unhealthy, but man, the stuff tasted _good_.

We'd done it as kids, too, despite Jeb's warnings that it would give us nightmares (he'd said the same thing about cheese, strangely), because, honestly, we didn't need the chocolate for that.

"We finished early." Fang commented, unable to keep the surprise from his voice, as we headed out. I was surprised to find that he was right, as I mentally totaled up everything that they'd bought and found that they weren't missing anything. I knew that I'd been hurrying us a little today- due to the strangely insane amount of paranoia that had fear freezing my heart every time that someone so much as looked at me the wrong way- but I'd had no idea that I'd rushed them _that_ much.

And now they had nothing to do.

"Oops?" I offered, with a small- and somewhat fake- grin.

"Don't sweat it," Fang said, grinning himself, and then, "Come on- if we take off early we can have a chocolate fest when we get back."

Any that was reason #127 why Fang was my best friend in the whole entire world: he always knew how to make everything better, no matter what. If I ever wrote a book about our lives (which, with my limited knowledge of the English language was incredibly unlikely) I'd have to make a point of pointing that small fact out.

The two of us headed back to the motel, and I was happy to find that I was, in fact, feeling a little less nervous than I had been before- although the reasons for the sudden feelings my mind had still to enlighten me too.

Since we had some time, I decided to do the dishes when we got back- which Fang laughed at- and Fang packed the bags; surprisingly, most of the shopping fit into our backpacks, with only the few boxes of cereal and some tins of spaghetti and the likes left over. All in all, there was about eight jumbo-sized plastic bags left over [which wasn't bad, out of the twenty-six we'd had to start with], and we each took four.

I had a sneaky suspicion that Fang had managed to arrange it so that he got the four heaviest, but sighed instead of fighting it- as much as I hated to admit it, I was tired. It was about half-three by the time that we made it down to the lobby, and I left Fang with the bags in the waiting area across the room as I headed over to check out.

"I'd like to check out please," I said, as pleasantly as I could- distinctly aware that my nervousness and fear was back. My hands were shaking as the clerk nodded and I handed the key over. He took it with a controlled movement of his arms that made the feeling all the more worse; some part of my mind was telling me that he was dangerous- and to get out of there; the more logical side won out, and I waited for him to nod and say,

"You're all paid up. Thanks for staying here, hope to see you again." With a voice like velvet before smiling as politely as I could and all but bolting across the room.

"What was that about?" Fang asked, glancing at me concernedly as he handed me my four bags, before allowing his eyes to wander over my shoulder to study the clerk- who was now dealing with a young family, and looking completely innocent.

"Nothing; I, just… something doesn't feel right. Hasn't all day." Fang looked concerned, and like he was a second away from leaning over and placing the back of his hand to my forehead and asking if I was sick like we'd seen all the people in the movies do.

"On a scale of one to ten, just how fast is your Max-o-meter dinging?" He asked instead, surprising me.

"Eleven and a half," I answered truthfully, and then, "You feel it too?"

Fang nodded, and then motioned to the doors.

"Let's just get out of here already."

* * *

It was nearly nine O'clock by the time that we landed back at the E-shaped house, and we were completely wiped. Six hours of solid flying will do that to you; in fact, I was so eager for the day to end- as was Fang, apparently- that neither of us remembered Fang's promise of a chocolate fest. Instead, we removed all of the groceries from our backpacks and piled everything on the large kitchen table.

The mountain that it formed was impressively tall, even if I do say so myself.

"Well I, for one, can't be bothered to put all of that away. I reckon make that- and sleeping- tomorrows jobs; what say you?" I asked Fang, standing by the back door with my hands on my hips, and surveying the unorganised heap of bags and packages.

"Aye." Fang said with a grin, and the two of us said nothing more as we headed through the house at a leisurely pace. When in the bedroom, I pulled the curtain across between our beds and changed quickly. Between you and me, the curtain was Jeb's idea- saying that it would give us some privacy. He didn't seem to realise that, a) modesty was something that was nothing more than an illusion between Fang and I- a notion that we'd had to dispel and get over quickly in The school. And, b) the curtain was see-through.

I don't think that he _meant_ to get a see-through one, and Fang and I never mentioned it to him, but we still pulled it out anyways- more to honour Jeb's memory than anything else, I guess.

The two of us had just accomplished getting ready for bed, and were about to slip under the covers of our beds- the lights already turned off- when we heard it.

The kitchen window was being broken, which could mean only one thing: erasers.

* * *

AN: Until I've finished writing this out, updates will be pretty slow. Sorry for that, and don't forget...

Reviews make updates quicker, and the writer happy :] x


	3. Into Oblivion

**Chapter Three- Into Oblivion  
**-

For a moment, Fang and I simply stared at each other- eyes wide, and then Jeb's voice filled my head- a memory of the first lesson that he'd taught me.

'_You've got to get your head in it, Max. Think everything through carefully, there's no room for mistakes.'_

I pressed a finger to my lips, and Fang nodded as I began to slip my combat boots on. A little fact for you: kicking somebody barefooted tends to hurt you more than them- especially if they're trained not to pay attention to pain. A quick glance at Fang showed that he had followed my lead- boots on his feet, and standing upright- alert, and ready to fight for his life.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway made it clear that they knew where we were, so I motioned for Fang to get behind the door; the two of us barely made it in time. A hairy arm threw the door open, nearly breaking Fang's nose in the process, and the two of us held our breaths as three of them filed into the room- glancing around, and completely unaware that we were behind them.

"All clear," The leader called, and turned to head out, only to be greeted by the sight of the door flying shut and my fist connecting with his face. He howled in a mix of anger and pain, and lunged for me. I dodged his attack, lucky that he'd misjudged it in his anger- and slammed an elbow down on his back, on exactly the spot where Jeb had taught us would immobilise him; he fell to the floor, limp.

I connected my boot with his head, just for good measure, and then lunged for one of the two that had whirled on Fang.

Once more, the element of surprise worked in my advantage, and I managed to pin him down with very little trouble- a quick, and silent, kick to the head had his yells for his team-mates dying in his throat as he was sucked into the realms of oblivion. Fang's eraser, however, was proving to be more of a challenge.

"They're in here," He yelled, before Fang delivered a hard kick to his spine- using the erasers moment of distraction against him.

I think it was then that I first realised that we were screwed- a quick glance at Fang proved that he was in relatively good shape, the only visible wound was a quickly forming bruise on his temple- I didn't have time to check that there wasn't anything that I _couldn't_ see, because erasers were suddenly streaming into the room- throwing themselves into the fight with sick grins on their faces. I counted six, and then gave up.

It didn't matter how many more there were, we were clearly dangerously outnumbered. Eight leapt at us- four each- whilst more hung back, observing and waiting for a chance to jump in and help.

The first two were fairly easy to take down- they were uncoordinated and frequently getting in each other's way. The next two, alongside the three that jumped in to replace the two that had just fallen, were harder. They were distinctly more trained, and organised, throwing attacks at the same time to ensure that at least one hit home. My only chance was to block as many of the attacks as I could, and focus on the ones that would do the most damage as I looked for an opening to attack.

For a couple of minutes, I was nothing more than an eraser punching bag, and then another piece of Jeb wisdom came to mind.

'_They may be part wolf, but they're still men, Max- and you know as well as I do that every man has one weak-spot at least. Hit home, baby.'_

And that's what I did.

One of them swung a fist at my head, and I ducked- ramming my knee into the… manly parts of one of the other four. He went down, and a kick in the head ensured that he remained there. Meanwhile, the one whose punch I had ducked had teetered off balance, and nearly taken two of the others down, leaving the remaining fourth one open for attack as he glanced over at them. A hard kick to the stomach, and a second one to the spine as he went down meant that he was out of the fight.

Eraser One (the one who had practically knocked the other two over) jumped back into the fight then- with a flying two-footed kick that smashed me straight in the ribs and sent me flying into the wall. I felt at least two ribs break, but climbed unsteadily to my feet.

Fighting Max-style rule #1: Pain is just a message, and messages can be ignored.

And this message was getting deleted- however temporary.

Erasers Two and Three had used my temporary flying lesson (minus the wings) to re-group, and tried to all come at me at once again. This time I was ready for them, but played the part of the damsel in distress (have I mentioned how much I hate that roll yet? No, well there you go.) and glancing frantically around. The erasers got cocky, and came a bit too close- giving me the perfect opportunity.

At the last minute I dropped to the floor, and dove through the gap in-between Eraser Two's legs. He clearly wasn't expecting it, and didn't turn fast enough to avoid a double-footed kick to the back of his kneecaps that left me once more on the floor, and him crumbling to down to join me as a sickening crunching noise was heard. I flipped backwards to my feet, and was about to deliver a kick to his head- to knock him out like the others before him- when Eraser one saved me the trouble.

He had tried to pivot on one foot and come at me, but hadn't calculated in the direction in which his comrade was going to fall, and ended up trampling on his head- causing a more sickening crunching noise than the previous one. He tripped, and a simple kick to the temple made sure that he stayed down. Eraser Three seemed to lose both his cocky attitude and his nerve without his buddies, and I could see his legs trembling as I advanced on him.

In a surprising show of bravery, he threw a punch that caught me off guard, and caught me next to the eye. If anything, that made me _more_ angry, and he was out for the count in a matter of minutes.

Panting, and feeling the aches and pains for the first time, I turned to see how Fang was faring. He was still fighting two erasers, who seemed to be doing a surprisingly good job at fighting back in comparison to the six that I'd fought, but seemed to be in control. Still, a little help wouldn't go a miss, and I was just heading over to assist him when the world disappeared from beneath my feet and I went crashing to the floor, hard- unable to bite back a cry of pain as shattered shards of Fang's chest of drawers- which appeared to have been shattered in his fight- sliced into the palm of my hands and my left cheekbone.

And then someone was rolling me over, and boot pressed against my neck as they leant forward and leered at me. It was all I could do to breathe, because I knew the person before me.

Ari.

He was Jeb's son, who had gotten caught when we launched our escape from The School- Jeb had said that we'd go back for him later, and we never had- and now he was one of them. He'd been human when we left- which meant that rather than fusing him with Canine DNA whilst he was still in the womb- like they'd done with all of the other experiments- they'd done it when we'd left.

He was only seven, but he looked twenty-one.

"Long time, no see, Max, dear." He spat. "My father sends his regards."

That was all I needed to wake me out of my dazed state- not that I showed it. I needed to keep him distracted as I slipped my hands up from my side to rest on the underside of his boot.

"Oh, my Go-" I feigned going into a coughing fit and being unable to breath, and the pressure of his boot lessened a little. It was all I needed, and I shoved with all of my genetically-enhanced-might. Ari went flying, and I rolled onto all fours- ignoring the burning of my hands, and the way that the blood made them slick and slippy as I climbed slowly and painstakingly to my feet.

Ari collected himself a lot faster than I did, and came flying at me again with such a raw power that I wondered if turning him into an eraser had been the only experiment that they'd done on him.

I dodged his attack at the last minute, and spun to deliver a kick to his stomach- the shock of the impact on his strong stomach muscles seemed to reverberate throughout my whole body, although I was glad to see that it hurt him, too.

Fatigue was beginning to make my attacks and dodges slow, and as he lunged at me for a second time, I was unsuccessful in dodging his attack completely- he hit my shoulder, and I felt a burst of pain as it popped out of the socket at an awkward angle. Gritting my teeth, I turned to meet his next attack head on- and our fists collided in mid-air as a flurry of punches and kicks ensued.

I didn't realise until it was too late that he had been herding me backwards the whole time, and even as a horrifying realisation burned through my brain, he was grinning maliciously and delivering a hard kick to my stomach that sent me flying backwards- and straight through my bedroom window.

My last thought before the impact of the crash jarred me into oblivion was that at least mine and Fang's window didn't overlook the east side- the side that looked out across the canyon.

That would of _really_ hurt.

* * *

"Max! Oh, God, Max- wake the hell up already!" I heard a voice saying loudly. My scattered brain took a few seconds to piece together that a) it was Fang talking, b) he was talking to me, and c) I felt like I'd been hit by a train.

On second thoughts, make that two trains.

Two high-speed trains moving in opposite directions with me being the only keeping them from colliding head on.

I heard an unintelligible groan- and winced at the patheticness of it, before realising it was _me_ that was groaning. I blinked my eyes open- wincing again as the sunlight near blinded me.

"Jeez, Max. How do you feel? You fell like 30 feet." Fang said, as I dragged myself slowly and painfully into a sitting position.

"Where'd all the erasers go?" I groaned, and then, despite everything found myself grinning. "Hey, the fall popped my shoulder back into place! And we kicked some serious butt back there."

Fang shook his head, and held out his hand to help me up. My ribs flared in pain as I climbed to my feet, but I didn't let it stop me. I was pretty sure I'd had worse before, and I was more than likely- with this new turn of events- to have worse yet.

"I took care of the erasers, don't worry." Fang's voice took on a darker tone as I raised an eyebrow at him- he diverted his gaze, and I followed his line of sight to survey the house. By the looks of things the only external damages were the kitchen window and the bedroom window.

"Alright, let's set to work." I ordered.

"Work?" Fang queried, clearly lost.

"Yeah. We're going to board up the windows with the spare wood panels that Jeb kept in the basement, tidy up the room, pack our stuff and head out."

"Wait, what!" Fang said loudly.

"Well, it's not like we can stay here-"

"No duh, Einstein. I got that far, but why are we bothering to tidy the house up?" He clearly didn't see where I was coming from, but strangely, I had a plan.

"If they come back to the house and see that the windows are still broken and the place is a mess then they're going to spend maybe a minute searching the place because they'll _know_ that we've gone. If we board the windows, they're going to do a thorough sweep of not just the house, but the entire area. The way I see it is the more time they spend here, the less time they spend wherever it is that we end up."

Fang stared at me for a moment, and then grinned. "You, Max, are a genius."

* * *

It took less than an hour to pack all of our stuff, change, and sort the house out. It's sad to admit that the house, as we left it behind, probably looked the tidiest I'd ever seen it. I also learnt, as we took to the skies with our backpacks practically overflowing, what Fang had meant when he'd said that he'd 'taken care of the erasers'.

He'd literally thrown them out of the largest window of the East-facing part of the house, where they'd met a grisly death hundreds of feet below.

He clearly didn't want to talk about it, but we both knew that it had to be done. I couldn't help but notice that the pile in the canyon held only fifteen bodies. Between us, we'd fought sixteen erasers- including Ari, so one of them had gotten away.

Why was my gut telling me that it had been Ari?

A quick glance at Fang's face showed me that I'd better think twice about asking him if he'd seen him- he was clearly beating himself up about something, and I had a clue as to which two things that could possibly be.

"You couldn't do anything, you know. You were fighting two erasers of your own, and it's not like I was that badly hurt or anything-"

"Yeah, right." Fang scoffed, but I wasn't finished.

"And you had no choice to throw the erasers into the canyon- we needed to slow The School down as much as we could. You did the right thing."

Fang nodded glumly, but clearly wasn't convinced. I knew better than to keep talking at him- it would only make him angry at me, and I really didn't want that right now- I don't think that I could of handled it; instead, I moved over slightly, so that my wing brushed against his (in a way that didn't hinder our flying) on the down stroke. He smiled his thanks at me, and the two of us continued to fly in silence.

It was dark by now- the only light was coming from the moon and the occasional star. Flying at night had always been fun for us- Jeb had told us never to do it, so, naturally we'd snuck out nearly every night. I think he knew about it really, he just never confronted us or made a big deal about it or anything. It was so different from flying during the day. For one, it was _dark_, and honestly, the world looked so much better when it was dark. Even the ugliest of buildings could look beautiful when the moon's light reflected off them.

I wasn't really doing much revelling in the beauty of things tonight, though. Honestly, I felt like I could fall out of the sky at any moment. My wing beats were unsteady, and I was selfishly a little glad that Fang was deep in thought, because it meant that he wasn't paying attention to how off balance and weak I was.

Although I didn't regret shopping in the sense that we were now going to last a lot longer on our own without having to go into any major cities- or even towns, for the most part- it also meant that we'd exhausted ourselves already by not only fighting, but also the six hour flight to get back to the house, and that our packs were almost three times as heavy as they usually were, and the extra weight wasn't helping.

The palms of my hands were burning where they were covered in deep gashes, and my ribs flared in pain so strong that it brought tears to my eyes every time that I moved. I was beginning to think that my original estimate of two broken ribs had been at least two ribs too low. Not that there was anything that I could do about it now, of course.

Fang had suggested that we stop and sort me out, when he'd confessed that he was hardly injured at all, aside from a wound in his leg that I had cleaned and bandaged, but I had ignored him- now I was starting to see that it had been a really bad idea.

We'd been in the air maybe four hours, and my eyelids were already drooping- despite the good night's sleep that I'd gotten in the motel.

I was hiding it from Fang as best as I could, riding on updrafts and thermals as much as I could, and using as little energy as possible- I'd even tucked my hands into my front hoodie pocket so I didn't need to hold them up. I was doing the best that I could, but by the time that the sun began to rise Fang clearly wasn't happy.

"Max, this is stupid. Just land already- you're going to kill yourself if you go on like this!"

"No, I'm not." I yawned, and then, "Just a couple more hours- I think we're near Utah, we can find a place to stay there."

He sighed. "Max, please, let's just land. There's got to be somewhere around here somewhere that we can spend the night-"

"I said no, Fang." I snapped, and then instantly felt bad. "Hey, look, I'm sorry. But really, the further away we are, the less chance they have of catching us. I'm doing my best here."

That at least, he couldn't argue with.

"Okay," He sighed. "But we're stopping the second that we see somewhere to camp out for a bit inside the Utah border, alright? I'm worried about you."

I just sighed and nodded- I knew that if the roles were reversed, I'd be looking out for him the way that he was looking out for me, and so couldn't really be mad at him for it.

It was another couple of hours before we reached the Utah border- by which point it was early enough that people were obviously on their way to work, so we were going to have to be a lot more careful about where we landed.

"Alright," Fang said, and I hated the concern in his voice. "Look for a place that we can stay, and then we're going down for a day- at least."

I nodded, not thinking it through until I'd already done it- and thrown myself off balance in my weakened state, dipping dangerously in the air- my wings failing to catch me. There was a brief moment when I thought to myself _'Damn. I bet Fang writes 'Maximum Ride Lies Here. I told her so.'_ _On my grave_, and then strong arms were around me, and I was gaining altitude again.

"Max?" Fang asked, panic evident in his voice. I wanted to tell him to stop worrying about me, and that I was fine, but I was, in fact, so _un-fine_ that I couldn't even open my mouth to speak- or keep my eyes open properly. It was with no command on my part that my eyelids fluttered shut and I began to sink once more into the realms of unconsciousness.

The last thing I heard was Fang saying, "Max, I'll kick your butt into next week if you dare go to sleep."

Well then, I guessed I was having my butt kicked when I woke up.

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-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

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Sorry about the long wait, I hope that the chapter makes up for it. _**Review?**_ Oh, and before I forget, readers of **HAUNTED PAST, FORGOTTEN DREAMS**, I think I roughly have the new based-off-it story worked out, but haven't started writing it yet or anything, so if you have anything that you want to happen, let me know and I'll see what I can do about adding it in, okay?

And, just for fun,

Fang or Edward (From Twilight, which I actually highly dislike despite having been really into it last year) and why?

Let me know your opinion!

-Nixxie.


	4. The Utah Lodge

**Chapter Four- The Utah Lodge**

When I woke up, I found myself amazingly confused. For one, I was in a bed, and secondly I was _warm_. The last thing I remembered was flying through the air in _Utah,_ in the middle of _December- _which, let's face it, couldn't exactly be called _warm_.

I blinked my eyes open and glanced around- seriously dazed and confused, and racking my brains for a reason that I was here- wherever here was, that is. And then it all came flooding back, and I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment. I'd _fallen_ out of the _sky_, and _Fang_ had been forced to _catch _me.

Oh, man, he was never going to let me live it down.

"Max?" Well, speak of the devil, and he will appear silently and give you heart failure, apparently. "You're awake." The relief in his tone was evident, so I shot him a half smile that was supposed to be reassuring, but nearly broke into a wince as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up- I wobbled embarrassingly for a few moments, and Fang had to catch my arm to steady me, but I finally got my balance.

"Where are we?" I asked- surveying the room again. If the wooden walls and stone fireplace were anything to go by, we were in a lodge of some sort, but that didn't really get me any further.

"Some ski lodge. I flew over the main hall place, and it looks like the resort went bankrupt and shut down- apparently they haven't got around to shutting the water, electricity and gas down, and all of the furniture's still here, so we're golden." Fang answered, releasing me as I tested my legs- glad to find that I could walk unassisted, however painful and awkwardly slow it was.

"Come on, we can go down to the kitchen and get some food now that you're awake." He said with a small grin, walking slowly to keep pace with me as the two of us headed down the stairs. It was a painful process-apparently I'd busted my knee up at some point in the fight, or the fall- but I was still proud of myself for managing it.

The kitchen was separated from the rest of the downstairs area by a wall that had a long, thin table pressed up against it, and a huge hole in it so that the people in the kitchen could see the people in the rest of the downstairs area, and vice versa; so, whilst Fang headed into the kitchen, I settled myself down on the table.

"You feeling a little better now that you've slept a while?" Fang asked, whilst pulling food out of his backpack.

"Yeah, I guess." I said with a non-committal shrug, Fang flashed me a grin that said that he didn't believe me in the slightest.

"I cleaned all of the wounds that I could find, and bandaged you up pretty good. Still, if you find anymore later let me know, alright?" He asked, beginning to put the food on two plates- they were wet, so I presumed that he'd washed them before he'd come up to see if I was alright. At least, I _hoped_ that he'd washed them before he'd come to wake me up. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind food that's a little dirty- as long as its edible, but when it comes to dust I can't stop sneezing.

Finally done filling the plates, Fang came to lean against the counter in the kitchen- so that we were opposite each other in the two different rooms, with only the counter and the table separating us.

He'd made us a nutritious meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- eight each, with a bag of chips and a couple of Hershey's chocolate bars to go with them. I grinned at him, and dug in- ignoring the stinging as I used my freshly bandaged hands.

The second that the flavour of the food hit my tongue I took back all comments that Fang couldn't make anything- the boy could make a _mean_ peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was the best that I'd ever tasted- which, granted, isn't saying much, but hey.

"Good?" Fang asked, grinning again.

"Delicious." I said, remembering to put a hand over my mouth as I spoke- it had been Jeb's second rule in his table manners lesson, after lesson one (don't talk with your mouth full) had been both been taught, and had failed in achieving accomplishment.

"So- I've been thinking," I said, after a rather long pause as we crammed more food into our mouths.

"Oh, God. This is the end. Max, _thinking_? It's the apocalypse-" Fang joked, and I grinned- he'd hardly spoken when Jeb was around, and had only ever said more than a few words (never mind joked) with me. Part of the best friend thing, I guessed.

"Right. We need to end this- once and for all. We can't keep running all our lives, and even if we could, we can't let them keep doing this to innocent people. To innocent _babies_."

There was a long pause, as Fang gave me his trademark _'Are you crazy?'_ look, and then, after a while,

"You're serious." All humour was gone from his voice, and I understood why. "Walking in there is a suicide mission! Did you hit your head when you fell?"

"Maybe," I said carefully, not wanting to push Fang's anger too far- the cabin didn't need any holes in the walls to prove that we'd been here. "But maybe not- it doesn't _have_ to be suicide, Fang. I think we should keep running for a while, a few weeks, maybe even a few months- use the time to come up with a concrete plan, _and_ give the impression that we're _just_ running. They won't expect the two of us to launch an attack, but I think that we may be able to pull it off. In the meanwhile, we need to come up with two more plans, in case, a) one of us is captured, or, b) _both_ of us are captured."

Fang was characteristically wordless, but I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he thought it through.

"Alright- I'll do it, on two conditions." He said slowly, and I signalled for him to continue. "One, we don't make a move on The School until the plan is nothing short of perfect- and _both_ of us agree on it, and, two: once it's done, that's it. No more suicide missions."

I nodded, "Agreed."

"Okay then." Fang said, but the look in his eyes said that he wasn't happy about the situation.

"Now, my medical knowledge is telling me that you need to rest for like three days, at least- but my Max-o-meter is telling me that one is as much as you'll allow. So, we're staying here for the day, and we might as well make the most of it."

I frowned, not quite sure what he meant.

"The TV in the lounge," He nodded to what must have been the biggest TV that I'd ever seen, "Still works- what do you say that we watch some, and take it in turns to have some nice, long, hot showers?"

I grinned and nodded. Fang, well, he really knew the way to a girl's heart.

"Bagsee-"

"The shower first, yeah, I know." Fang flashed me one of his grins that made the sun look dull in comparison, and headed to the longue- deliberately turning his back so that I wasn't embarrassed as I slowly and painfully made my way to the bathroom, I guessed.

* * *

Half an hour later, I dressed in the second pair of jeans that I'd bought, and looked at the others in disgust. They were ripped, bloodied and grimy with stains of sweat, and other things that I didn't even _want_ to know the cause of from the fight. My T-shirt had been a lost cause, too, having been ripped so that, by human standards, it was dangerously close to my chest- and showing off my lovely bra, which, thankfully, I'd been able to salvage.

My combat boots had done their job by surviving, but one of my two new hoodies and windbreakers had suffered the same fate as the jeans and shirt, which, although was annoying in one respect, also relieved me in another. At least my pack would be a little lighter, and I could lighten Fang's if he let me take some of his stuff- which wasn't likely.

From what I could tell, Fang's clothes hadn't been that bad off. The shirt had been ripped, but the jeans had survived with only a rip in the knee- meaning, like his hoodie, they could be worn again. The windbreaker that he'd been wearing was pretty much useless, meaning that- like me- he was stuck with only the one.

If we continued on at this rate, we were going to need to go shopping a whole lot earlier than I'd planned. Great.

Finally, I headed downstairs where Fang was, indeed, watching baseball on TV. I could have guessed that it was what he'd be watching, although I believed that it was a repeat of a game from the summer. It was Fang's favourite human sport, and he'd tried to teach it to me once- giving up when I'd gotten frustrated and thrown the bat at his head.

I hated to admit it, but sometimes it was pretty cool to watch on TV, though. And I liked the idea of it being a team sport- it was almost like they were a family, something that with the exception of Jeb and Fang, I'd never really had.

Did I have a mother and father out there somewhere? I had no idea. For all I knew, I was a test-tube baby, and both my mother and my father had no knowledge that I was even alive. That sounded about right, actually- mommy and daddy test tube were the only parents that I was likely to know in time between now and when I expired.

Hearing me approach, Fang looked up and offered me a small smile, patting the sofa next to him- resting his arm along the back of it. I sat down next to him, curling up so that our sides were pressed together. He kissed the top of my head gently like he had for as long as I could remember, and squeezed my shoulder gently before turning back to the game.

I don't know how long we sat there for, watching game after game with rapid interest- but by the end of it, I'm pretty sure that I knew the rules even better than the commentators did. I even began making bets with Fang about which team was going to win before they played, and cheering in all the right places.

We'd never really sat and watched TV like this. Our only TV at the E-shaped house in Colorado was a small portable one that awful signal, and had to be kicked every once in a while to get it to work again, and the computer had long since broken. Occasionally we'd catch a random show or two, but we were much more likely to be out playing in the woods, or flying through the skies.

I'd never really noticed how _fun_ TV was- never really given it a chance, but as we headed back up to bed at the end of the day, I was surprised to find that I hadn't thought about The School or Erasers since breakfast- a personal record. I was also surprised at how _exhausting_ it was. It was like the exhaustion that I'd felt after flying back to the E-shaped house all over again, only without the warmness that flying always brought to my wings.

We wandered around the top floor for a while, sussing out where everything was for easy access in the morning. As always, our packs were ever-present- always in the same room as us, so that if Erasers came they'd be easy to get a hold of. We dumped them in the bedroom- which, we discovered, was the only one upstairs that looked even half-way usable (it was suddenly becoming clear that this place had been shut for longer than we'd thought). The only other room of interest was the bathroom, in all honestly- aside from the small study at the end of the hall.

There was something interesting in there alright.

Whoever had been here before us had clearly forgotten to check the room for their belongings, because there was a high-tech wireless laptop sat under a pile of forgotten papers. The charger was still plugged into the wall, and Fang wasted no time in checking that it wasn't a bomb or anything before turning it on and running a quick search.

"This must have cost a thousand dollars, easy." He muttered. "And, Max, if we take this with us, it could really help us take The School down." He glanced up at me hopefully.

"Whatever, but if it comes down to the laptop or me, I expect you to chose me." I said with an exaggerated eye roll, turning my back on him and heading back into the bedroom to get ready for bed. I slept- as usual-in a pair of shorts and a tank top that allowed for free use of my wings. Fang came in only seconds after me- slipping his new laptop and it's charger into his bag. He changed quickly into his usual black boxers and a shirt combination, and the two of us slipped into the spacious bed.

From what little TV I'd seen, I'd deduced that sleeping this close to each other should have been an uncomfortable experience- but we had a lot more room in here than we did in a dog crate, so neither of us were going to complain.

Actually, there was so much room that I felt myself scooting a little closer to Fang, and stretching my wing out slightly to meet his partly-stretched out one half-way. He rubbed his wing against mine, so that our feathers rubbed together soothingly, and that was all the help that I needed to fall into the land of dreams.

* * *

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

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**In response to a review I recieved from _Bubbley-Chan_: Yes, the Flock does come in later.**

Also... _**Review please?**_


	5. Little Black Box

**Chapter Five- Little Black Box**

I awoke panting, and found myself- like many a time before- checking for either bullet holes in my chest, or a red laser dot on my chest. Like the hundreds of times before, and, I was sure, hundreds of times to come, there was nothing there.

The nightmare. Again.

I'd almost forgotten about it with the excitement of the Eraser attack, falling out of the sky and then the exhausting day spent watching TV, and now it was back with a vengeance. I really didn't understand it, it wasn't a memory or anything- not even pieces of it. When we'd escaped from The School, we'd escaped in the car. There'd been no running, no chasing dogs, no laser-led guns, and certainly no cliff-diving.

It was one escape that didn't deserve a _Mission: Impossible_ theme song to be played as background music. How anti-climatic for us poor little mutants. And yes, we'd seen _Mission: Impossible_, it had, in fact, been Jeb's favourite film, and we'd watched it with him a few times here and now.

"Max?" Fang groaned from his side of the bed, rolling over and blinking blearily at me. I'm not sure what expression was plastered across my face, but it was enough to have him sitting up and rubbing my back in-between my wings how I liked, as I fought to control my breaths.

Finally, and after a much longer period of time than it should have been, I managed to catch my breath- having no idea why I was being effected so much by my dream this time around. My reactions to it only seemed to be getting more terrified, rather than gradually becoming less and less affected. And then it clicked.

Normally, after I woke up, my danger-meter shut off after a few seconds. My stomach would unclench, the shaking would stop, and my breathing would calm. None of that had happened today, which meant one thing.

"We're in trouble," I hissed to Fang as quietly as I could. "Move it."

Not bothering to slip clothes on, I grabbed my backpack and hid it on the ledge on the inside of the fireplace, and grabbed my boots as I motioned for Fang to hoist himself up, and quickly made the bed, purposefully leaving it a little messy and finally slowly opened the window before hoisting myself up the chimney.

Thankfully, yesterday's search of the place had proven that although the fireplace appeared to be sealed off at first, it actually opened up into a wider cavern inside the wall, with a lip just wide enough to balance Fang, myself and the two backpacks on.

If the noise in the room was any indication, we'd hidden just in time.

Not for the first time, I found myself wishing that we were able to simply climb off the chimney and launch ourselves into the air. We couldn't for two reasons.

One: if the people now in the room were humans, we couldn't risk revealing ourselves to any of them- including those that may possibly be stood outside waiting for their friends. And,

Two: if the people now in the room were _Erasers_, there _would_ be more outside, and they would have guns. A take-off required an exact amount of leverage and power before you began to rise, and there was no way that we could get up in time to avoid getting shot.

If it was between hiding in a sooty chimney and all but holding our breath as we hoped that we weren't found, and being shot out of the sky, I was pretty sure that most people would go for option a.

Or, maybe it's just Fang and I.

Either way, it was only a few seconds after we managed to settle ourselves into the chimney cavern as comfortably as we could that people entered into the room- their voices casual.

"Where should we put it?" One asked, and another replied with,

"Put it over here."

This was, of course, followed by the normal bad-guy squabble about where exactly this mysterious _'it'_ was to be placed. They finally settled on something, and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor sounded across the room- Fang and I exchanged looks, as I secretly hoped that it wasn't a bomb of some sort.

There was a few sighs of relief, and then someone spoke again. I froze as I recognised the voice.

"Well, let's just hope that when Max and her pal return they enjoy her present. With any luck they won't figure out what it means it time, and the rest of us can have a hearty meal of two bird kids." Ari laughed. My heart was thumping wildly in my chest, and for a second the world dimmed dramatically, and then Fang caught my arm and held me upright and I could see again.

Ari's speech was followed with multiple hoots of malicious laughter, and then their footsteps retreated away from the door and back down the stairs.

Fang and I stayed silent for a while after we heard the heavy tyres of the hummer retreat, both of us breathing heavily and waiting for any indication that any of The Erasers had remained. There was none, and even my danger-meter seemed to be insisting that it was safe.

The two of us tumbled out of the fireplace dirty and pale, and neither of us spoke as we looked at the object across the floor. It was a thin, long, rectangular box- the sort that you'd get from a store. It was black, and bound with a blood red ribbon. I didn't miss the symbolism _there_. Cautiously, I stepped forward- aware of the fact that, as always, Fang was covering my back- just in case.

The box wasn't making any suspicious ticking noises, which was pretty much always a good thing. Unless, of course, this was a _silent_ bomb. But then Ari's words _'Let's hope that she doesn't figure it out in time,'_ came back to me, and I abandoned some of my fear. Surely those words meant that we'd have time to figure whatever it was out?

Gingerly, I slipped the ribbon off the box and- keeping my weight on the balls of my feet to allow for a fast movement in any direction- pried the lid slowly off the box. To my surprise, there was no mass of wires inside. In fact, there was a pile of what appeared to be random objects. A handful of photos that had been taken from the E-shaped house, a small, black leather-bound Journal that looked old and worn, and a large bout of feathers that covered the bottom of the box.

The bottom of the box itself had six wooden boxes- about the length and width of my forearm. In each box was a different group of feathers. In the first box that I pulled out was a group of feathers that were white, and speckled with tawny, dark brown and black. I recognised them as my own, and frowned- mentally labelling that box '_Me_.' The next box that I pulled out was the one that was full of black and smoky grey feathers. For a second, the grey feathers confused me- and then I remembered that Fang's wings, back in the school, had started dark grey, and gotten darker with age. Meaning that this must be his box.

But there was still four more.

The third was full of pure white feathers- like those of a dove, but bigger. And then there was another one, the pattern work only minutely different to the one before- this one filled with white feathers speckled with a medium grey colour. After them, in box number five, were white feathers, accompanied by longer light, medium and dark grey feathers. The last box held beautiful light brown feathers, with mottled brown and crème patches.

I sat back on my heel, staring at the six open boxes as if they were going to tell me the answers. The boxes with mine and Fang's feathers in obviously represented us, but, if they did, what were the other four for? We'd always been told that we were the only experiments- with the exception of the erasers- that had been successful enough to make it past infancy.

But what if that was no longer true?

What if they'd made others, like us? Four others, who now needed our help. It was a strange notion to behold, and something that was hard to take on trust, but could it have been that when Ari was talking about having two bird-kids for dinner, he hadn't meant us?

"There's others." I breathed. "There's more like us."

Fang glanced up at me, his hands pulling something out of the box without him consciously looking as he took in my words, and that's when I saw what he was pulling out of the box.

It was white, and made of all silk, with lace at the top and bottom and almost non-existent straps. There, in Fang's hands, was the nightgown.

The one I'd been wearing in my nightmare.

For a moment, I simply froze, and then I realised what I was doing and kicked myself back into gear.

"We need to leave, now. Grab the journal and the photos, and put them in your pack- I'll get the boxes." I ordered, and then, seeing Fang's confused face. "Leave that here. It's a sign- a sign that we're in trouble. Now, _move, move, move!"_

Five minutes later and we were in the air. I still felt weak, but better than the last time that we'd flown- which could only be described as a good thing. The boxes felt heavy in my pack, simply because I still couldn't be sure that they weren't being used to track us- or to simply trick us. Did they _want_ us to go back to The School? And if so, why now? We'd been free for nearly five years now, and they'd never tried to get us back, so why had things changed?

Had someone new taken over, and demanded that we brought back?

There was so many questions, and, for now, no answers. There was no foreseeable way to _get_ answers, either, because, let's face it- signing ourselves up for death row didn't exactly count now, did it? What good were answers when you were as good as dead?

Not very, let me tell you. Not very.

Sighing, I turned my attention back to my whereabouts. According to Fang, the lodge where we'd stayed had been pretty much in the centre of the skiing sites, but we'd already passed them, and were currently passing the border into Arizona. We'd backed over ourselves to hopefully confuse the whitecoats and erasers for while. With any luck, they'd think that we'd gone straight on to Nevada, and the California or Oregon from there- maybe even Idaho. As long as they didn't suss our plan we should be alright in Arizona for a couple weeks- maybe even a month.

We could even spend a while there before travelling through the states bordering on Mexico before going back up and to somewhere busy, like New York. But that was only if we had a chance before we were gone. Until then, we were going to find somewhere to lay down low and think up an A plan, a B plan, and even a C and D plan. Just in case. We needed to be flexible for this to work- I just hoped that we didn't run out of letters before we ran out of plans, because I was never going to remember a plan called like 'Plan Z-Y-X', or something. Then again, having more than twenty-six plans was probably pushing it just a little.

With that many plans we had more chance of confusing ourselves than managing to take The School down or whatever.

Okay. Plan number one: don't have too many plans.

* * *

"Max- there's a good spot down there where we can stop and get some lunch, head into the town and find out where we are." Fang said, nodding at the ground below us.

"Alright," I nodded. "But let's make it a short break- I'd hate to get close this close to The School." Fang nodded in agreement, and we banked widely- circling once before diving down and landing heavily.

Five minutes later, our backpacks were ten pounds lighter, and we were stuffing our faces. As far as healthy eating went, we were failing, but we were enjoying it all the same. Unfortunately, the small amount of food that we'd had to leave behind was now making its importance known. The lack of bread made sandwiches and toast impossible, and the missing granola bars meant eating on the move was both awkward and impractical.

For our first food pack for on the move, we hadn't done all too great. But now that we knew what worked, what was didn't, and was needed and what wasn't, it would be easier next time. Besides, it's not like we weren't used to making use of what we had, or eating things that we didn't like. By the end of the month- and before the monthly shopping trip- we'd been left eating all of the stuff that we'd put off at the beginning of the month. All the stuff that we didn't really like, but bought out of respect for Jeb.

Not to mention that I also hated the fact that we were walking around with way more money than I was comfortable with. We'd counted over $600,000 and barely made a dent in Jeb's supplies. Over half of my hiking backpack was full of money, and Fang had even more than I did. Not to mention the amount that we'd managed to stuff into our pockets. We couldn't afford to leave any behind. Not when we had no way of getting more.

Once our meal was finished, we decided to head into town and find out where we were. The town itself was fairly small, and we managed to discover that we weren't far from Page with the help of the friendly shop manager of the first shop inside the main town. He was an old man, with a kindly face, who told me over the counter without even insisting that we buy anything.

We bought a couple of bottles of water to be polite, and because we needed them, told him thanks, and then headed out. The walk back to our spot where we'd eaten lunch wasn't a long one, and we took off- intending to fly over Page and up to Lake Mead to take a look around before back down and through the bottom end of Arizona.

Of course, things never go to plan, so as we were flying across the outskirts of Page I was staring absentmindedly at the ground when something caught my eye. There was a group of people on the ground below, five of them forming a circle around another, smaller person. My raptors eye-sight allowed me to focus in on them with perfect clarity, and I was unsurprised to see that the girl in the middle- the _only_ girl, I might add- looked terrified, whilst the five guys surrounded her (two of which had shot guns in their hands in full view) looked smug.

"Stupid bullies," I muttered to no-one in particular, beginning to bank.

"Max?" Fang said- sounding surprised at my sudden change of direction. "What's going on- No." Clearly he'd realised what was going on.

"We're not going down there. This isn't another family of rabbits," He ground out- I knew he was talking about the time that the two of us had teamed together to save a family of rabbits from a fox. We'd kept them in a box and nursed them back to health before releasing them. The next summer, there'd been hundreds of them, and they'd eaten all of the strawberries in the valley so we had none.

"I know that. Which is why you're staying here, and _I'm_ going down." I shot back, throwing him my backpack before shooting down towards the woods. I heard him call my name after me, but knew that he'd stay where he was until I told him to move.

I landed nimbly behind the cover of the trees, and slowly emerged- keeping my presence a secret as I moved silently to the back of the group.

"...Ortiz deserved what he got," One of the guys said, but I ignored their conversation as I crept even further forward- sticking to the shadows of the warehouse behind them. Finally, I was directly behind them, and stepped forward silently- grinning slightly.

"Now, this doesn't seem fair. One girl against five guys," I said calmly. The leader jumped, and one of the two with the shotguns yelped and squeezed the trigger- firing at the ground near one of the others- who yelped and jumped back. All six people were looking at me then. _Really_ looking. Taking in the bandages on my hands, and the cuts on my face- there was a long pause as they studied me, and then the leader sighed and shook his head.

"Look, chick. Just get out of here now and we won't have to hurt you- alright?" He snapped. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two came when he turned his back on me completely, and mistake number three was the moment that he began to interrogate the girl before me- whose name I now picked up as Ella- and seemingly forgot that I existed.

Sighing, I stepped forward, and hit him in the back of the head with one smooth blow- remembering at the last moment that Jeb had once told Fang and I that humans were like egg shells compared to us- and lessening the blow by slowing down at the last moment. The guy closest to him dropped his shotgun to try and catch his leader, and the three unarmed ones rushed me at once.

For the most part, that succeeded in nothing but ensuring that they got in each other's way, and allowed me more room to move. I got two of them down before the guy who still had his gun began squeezing off shots. I contemplated taking to the skies, but I couldn't let these bozos see my wings, and I couldn't leave Ella; the second plan was always to attack the person with the gun, but there was two of them, and the second that I went for one of them I had to give my back to another and leave myself open to attack.

No, running was the best option now, so I grabbed Ella's arm and did just that.

The woods were only a few steps away, so I dragged Ella into them and started running- she kept up better than most humans, but I was still moving at a speed that- for me- was barely more than a jog. Still, moving through the woods was a hard feat, and there was many a time that Ella would have fallen had I not of been guiding her.

Above us, the sun was descending in the sky, and clouds were filling the otherwise light-blue space. Great. The one time it rains in Arizona, I'm dragging a human through the woods and running away from gun-toting maniacs. Just my luck.

Behind us, the guys were crashing around in the trees- firing their weapons whenever they saw something move, and trying to find the trail that I was deliberately failing at leaving behind.

"Ella, where do you live?" I barked, keeping my voice quiet as we ran through the dense woodland.

"Just... just on the other side of the... woods." She panted, although managed to keep her voice quiet.

"Alright, good. How far do these woods go on for?" I asked, because, honestly, I hadn't thought to look ahead before diving down to her rescue.

"Miles." Ella sounded really scared now, and I sighed.

"That's alright," I reassured her. "We're going to get you there safely, and then you can report those creeps, alright?"

She nodded, and I picked up the pace a little more. The guys had started firing again, the bullets now closer than ever- blowing bits of bark off the trees surrounding our heads. Clearly, they were aiming for a head shot- luckily though, their next shot proved how bad their aim was- hitting a tree about torso level, the bark looking like small pieces of black paint chipping off due to the amazing amount of rain.

I sighed in relief, realising how small the chance of them hitting us was, and that's when pain exploded in my shoulder.

* * *

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

* * *

I want to use this space to thank:

_For five reviews:_ **Caris L. Clearwater.** I'd also like to thank her for her support in the other stories of mine that she has supported.

_For three reviews:_ **Bubbley-Chan and RuneSabre.** Thank you both so much!

_For two reviews:_ **. **It means so much that you would review multiple times, so thank you so much!

_For one review:_ DiamondSunshine, Kittiesrock90210, Starfire478, fangandmaxlover24, timelord99, jokohn, Bluejaygrl198, JessicaJayJackson, Freedom Requires A Battle Cry (I absaloutely love your name, by the way), Stripedpolkadots and xXMishaXx.

Thank you all so much!

Okay, so, a little something more for you! A _**Competition for you!**_

By the end of the story, the person who has submitted the most reviews can have TWO OC's in the sequal to this story. So, _**REVIEW! :)**_


	6. Hate The Rain

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Chapter Six- Hate the Rain

When Fang and I were little, Jeb had enforced positive thinking, saying that it would get you places.

He was right.

Today, positive thinking had gotten me separated from Fang, running through the woods with a human, soaking wet, shivering, and sporting a bullet wound.

See? I knew there was a reason that I was a pessimist.

"Oh my god, did that hit you?" Ella asked as I stumbled slightly.

"No," I lied through clenched teeth- doing my best not to worry her. "I'm fine, just keep running."

We must have been running for hours after that, before I finally decided that the guys had stopped following us a while back, and we could slow our pace to a speed walk. My shoulder caused a fiery pain to shoot up my arm every time that I moved it, and I'd already lost a lot of blood. I was also aware of the fact that Fang would of been forced to land because of the rain, and would be looking for me.

"You're bleeding!" Ella accused as she turned to study me. "He did get you!"

"It's no big deal," I said tightly, and then, "Just be quiet a minute."

For a second, I thought she was going to say something, and then she relented and nodded.

Sighing, I brought my good hand up and whistled. The noise that emitted was the perfect imitation of a Hawk chick- something that the Jeb had taught Fang and I. I left a slight pause, and then whistled again, twice- ignoring the looks of awe that Ella was giving me as I turned to cough into my sleeve and then whistled once more- then dropped my hand to press it tightly to my shoulder as blood seeped from between my fingers.

There was a long pause, where I resisted the urge to punch something and scream loudly- and then we both heard it. An answering call.

Fang.

Sighing in relief, I made the noise again a few times, pausing before Fang answered again - each of us guiding the other, letting each other know wherre we were. I whistled once more, the noise breaking off as I was forced to cough violently into my sleeve- Ella grabbing my shoulder- the good one thankfully- as the world tipped sickeningly. For a second, I couldn't see anything, and then my vision cleared as something shot through the woods straight in front of me. I grabbed Ella and shoved her roughly behind me as I straightened up and got into my battle stance, only to relax again almost immediately as I caught a flash of black and olive.

"Get out here, you loser." I groaned, leaning back against the tree as a cold sweat broke out across my forehead, mixing with the still pouring rain.

Fang stepped out of the shadows slowly, and then he saw the blood- he was at my side in an instant.

"I thought you were supposed to be Wonder Woman, not the damsel in distress." He sighed, looping my good arm around his shoulders. "Right, let's get the girl home and then we can get you fixed- alright?"

Ella was still looking at Fang wide-eyed, I guessed it had something to do with his sudden appearance, or maybe his nonchalance at the bullet wound- either way, I was beginning to wonder whether she was going into shock when she snapped out of it. Still, she was silent as she stumbled along at my left hand-side; Fang supporting my right.

I was well aware that I was losing far too much blood- even with Fang's hand pressing against my shoulder in an effort to both stem the bleeding and keep me upright. Needless to say, it was with a great amount of relief that we finally reached the end of the woods- coming face to face with what appeared to be a large farm.

"Damn. You know who lives here?" Fang asked, glancing around- obviously trying to see if we could get round it.

"I do. Me and my mom-" Ella said softly, and then, when the world tipped and my legs buckled, forcing Fang to grip my shoulder painfully, she paled. "You've lost way too much blood. Please, come inside, my mom can help you."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me forward. Let me tell you now, she got lucky. Fang and I both had strong personal space issues, had I been even a fraction more aware of what was actually going on, I'd probably of decked her. I wouldn't of held back like I had with those thugs, either, it was simply an instinct to hit anyone- with the obvious exception of Fang- if they touched me.

Fang himself made an awkward twitching movement towards her, causing his fingers to dig into my shoulder injury, and me to make a subtle noise of pain. He swore under his breath, and settled for following the two of us up to the house on the far side of the farm.

It was dark now, but the lights were on, and I could hear dogs barking inside the house somewhere. We were roughly half-way when a tall woman came flying out of the house- running straight to Ella, and, for the moment, not even realising that we were there. It must of been nice, growing up with someone that loved you like that.

Finally assessing that Ella was fine, she turned to face Fang and I. I was sagging against Fang now, and I was pretty sure that the funny sensation that I was experiencing was called tunnel vision.

"Let's get out of here," I muttered to Fang, pressing my face into his jacket as I found myself coughing once more. I felt him nod against my head, and turn as if to head back the way we'd come- and that was when, for the second time today, somebody caught my arm (my bad one, I might add) and sent my paranoia on a downward spiral to _inane_.

"Please," The woman said, glancing at my arm, and then Fang. "Come inside- I can sort your arm out for you."

I was about to decline, and continue to walk back into the woods, when Fang surprised me and nodded curtly, moving his arm a little so that it was still holding some of the blood back, but supporting me more than before. He began to follow the woman- _a strange woman_- into the house, not even bothering to run it by me.

"What ever happened to '_don't talk to strangers?'._" I muttered to him groggily.

"My best friend got shot." Was his reply, as he resisted the urge to hesitate at the door- how did I know that he was doing it? The sudden tightness of his muscles, that's how.

"Fang," I muttered, my lack of blood making me feel weak and vulnerable; I grabbed at his arm, my grip slack no matter how much effort I put into tightening it. "Please don't make me go in there."

I was feeling desperate and panicky now, and saw the conflict in Fang's eyes. After a long moment, he turned his head away from me and herded me over the threshold.

"If you just leave your shoes by the door-" The woman said, and then seemed to realise what she was doing, "Oh, for goodness sake- I'm such an idiot. You're practically bleeding to death, and I'm worried about getting mud on the carpet- how stupid is that? Ella will take you to the upstairs bathroom; it's lighter in there than it is in here. I'll be up to help as soon as I've gotten my stuff and something to get your sugar levels up." She rambled, before heading into a room that I presumed to be the kitchen. Half-asleep, I found myself kicking off my shoes without paying much mind to it, and was surprised to find Fang following suit- dropping both backpacks (which I'd neglected to notice that he was still carrying) down next to his boots.

Since when had we cared about manners?

Ella wordlessly lead us down the corridor and up some stairs- before heading over to a door not far from the end of the upstairs hallway- we were nearly half-way there when her mother's words caught up with me. From the look on Fang's face, I'm pretty sure that I paled or something, because I saw the concern flare up in his eyes again.

"Her _things?"_ I demanded weakly.

Ella looked confused for a moment, before her confusion cleared and she nodded once more. "Yeah, her emergency kit. She's a vet- has her own surgery and everything."

Fang had to drag me forward now, and had I of had enough strength to do so, I'd of been long gone. We finally reached the bathroom, and Ella ushered us inside- motioning for Fang to sit me down on the edge of the bathtub. I leant heavily on the sink, and he crouched in front of me, gently brushing some of the hair from my face.

"Traitor." I said to him, frowning weakly.

"Yeah, well, you'll thank me when you wake up tomorrow- mainly because you _will_ be waking up tomorrow." He answered with a small grin- I tried to smile back at him, but it turned into a grimace as my wing shifted slightly, and pain shot through my body.

That's when the reality of the situation really hit me.

I had _wings_, and the first lesson that Jeb had ever taught us was not to let anyone see them. We needed to get out of there! I tried to shoot to my feet, but a mixture of Fang holding me back and the dizziness that accompanied the movement stopped me short, and I ended up sinking back on to the bathtub.

"But, she'll _see_." I hissed at Fang, gripping his upper arms as tightly as I could manage and not even bothering to check if Ella could hear what I was saying.

"I know," Fang said simply. "But you need help, and this is the best way to get you that help. I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Don't say that!" I snapped instantly- just like the other two times that Fang had dared to say it to me, both after Jeb's death. Why? Because that's what Jeb had said, over and over again, and then they'd killed him- just like the other whitecoats that had said it before him. He'd just lasted a little longer than the other two.

"Alright," The woman said as she entered the room, carrying a white box, a couple of chocolate bars and a glass of juice.

"Here you go, drink this and then eat some chocolate and you should feel a little better." She held them out, but I made no move to take them. There was a slight pause before Fang took them off her, taking a gulp from the drink, and then a bite from the chocolate before handing them to me- the woman looked on with apparent interest.

I waited for a few minutes, and when it became apparent that Fang wasn't about to keel over, I took a long drink- feeling a little better for it, and, as I placed some of the chocolaty goodness in my mouth, I didn't even flinch when the woman opened the box and revealed more medical supplies then I'd expected her to be able to cram into the deceptively small box.

"Ah, I never introduced myself." She said suddenly, and it took me almost a second to realise that she was trying to take my mind off my bullet wound as she cut my shirt away- Fang hovering protectively only an inch away from the two of us. "I'm Dr Martinez, but you can call me Val. And you are?"

"Max," I responded without thinking. "And F-" I stopped myself just in time, glancing around for anything that could supply me with a normal-sounding name. Finally, my eyes fell on a poster on the door opposite the bathroom, with the words _"The Jonas Brothers" _across the top, underneath, there was three names, and I focused on the one in the middle before finally announcing, "Nick."

Dr Martinez raised an eyebrow, and I knew that she hadn't bought my lie completely, if at all. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but I was saved as my T-shirt chose that moment to fall off completely, leaving me in a tank top.

"Maybe it's best that Nick waits outside." She frowned as she seemed to realise that I was practically sat here half-naked.

"I'm not leaving Max." Came Fang's automatic response, I nodded heartily in agreement, feeling all the more dizzy for it, and Dr M sighed before leaning over to get a better look at my shoulder. I figured that was when she saw my wing, because she froze for a few seconds.

"Max," She said gently, running her fingers against the soft feathers of my wing. "What's this?"

"Its, well, it's a wing." I said- deciding that there really wasn't a tactful way that you could tell someone that you had thirteen-feet pair of wings attached to your back.

"Her wing was hurt, too." Fang offered, I guessed he was trying to make everything seem a little more normal to the two Martinez's who were stood in the room- it wasn't a very successful mission, but Dr M did start moving again- instructing me to spread my wing out. I did so slowly, clenching my jaw to stop myself crying out in pain.

I saw Fang's eyes tighten, he'd always hated seeing me in pain. I tried to offer him a small smile of reassurance, but he was watching Val closely. The doctor was assessing my shoulder and wing, and took her time doing it, before sitting back on her heels and smiling stiffly at me.

"Well, it looks like the bullet only grazed your shoulder and, uh, your wing, so you got lucky. As far as I can tell, it just missed both the muscle _and_ the bone, so as long as you try not to move your shoulder too much, and barely move your wing at all for a few weeks, there should be no permanent damage." She said gently. "Look, is there anyone that you want me to call? Anyone that will be missing you?"

There was a long pause, before I went on gut feeling and said softly, "No. There's no-one."

There was a second long pause, before I hauled myself to my feet- Fang having to reach out to steady me. "Thanks for all your help, doc. We'll get out of your hair now, there's no need for us to intrude."

I'd never seen a human move so fast as Dr M did then, a blush on her face as she protested,

"No! I didn't mean it like that, I just didn't want police at my door telling me that I'd kidnapped some poor people's kids or whatever. Please, spend the night, at least."

Fang and I hesitated- looking at each other. I cocked my head at him, and he gave an almost unintelligible nod as his eyes flickered to my injured shoulder and back. I sighed, but my gut was telling me to stay.

"We don't want to be any trouble," I sighed.

"You won't be. We have enough room, and it sometimes gets a little lonely when it's just the two of us. You're more than welcome to stay as long as you need, or want." She said, and I could see the earnest expression conveyed through her eyes.

I sighed again- something which I seemed to be doing a lot more frequently of late- and nodded slightly, "Please." Was all I said, feeling more tired than ever before.

Dr Martinez smiled again, and nodded.

"Right, Ella will take you downstairs whilst I pack up and get the spare room for you sorted, alright?" She said, looking at me as she spoke, I nodded in response, and she turned to Fang. "Will the sofa downstairs be alright? It's probably not the comfiest-"

Fang cut her off, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving Max." He repeated, fierce protectiveness evident in his tone.

Dr Martinez seemed taken aback. "But there's only one bed in the spare room-"

"We're fine sharing. We're used to it, really." I assured her. She frowned again, but nodded slowly.

"Right, well, I'd better clean this up. You take the juice and chocolate with you, and if you're hungry, I'm sure Ella will find you something to eat."

Ella nodded, and we wordlessly followed her down the corridor, and then down the stairs. I was relieved to note that I no longer needed Fang's support to walk, although I wasn't as steady as I would of liked- Fang took the juice off me wordlessly, observing my shaking hands, and I offered him a chocolate bar as we headed down the stairs. He smiled at me as he took it, and the two of us followed Ella into what appeared to be a lounge.

"Uh, go ahead and sit." Ella said with a small smile, choosing to curl up in an arm chair. I offered her a grateful smile as I all but collapsed onto the comfortable sofa. Fang took a seat next to me- me leaning against the arm of the chair, so that our legs were just brushing and his arm was thrown carelessly across the back of the sofa in a typical Fang position.

I handed him another chocolate bar, and offered the last one to Ella, who shook her head, smiling.

There was a long pause, as Ella simply sat and watched us, and we munched our way through the chocolate bars.

"Can you... can you actually fly?" She asked after a while- I smiled at her reassuringly, and nodded. "And Nick, are you, well, are you like Max?"

There was a long pause, before Fang nodded slowly.

"Whoa." Ella breathed out, and then a grin lit her face. "That is _so_ cool!"

For a second I internally debated whether to point out that no, it wasn't cool, but then reasoned that doing so would mean revealing the truth about The School to a stranger. You talk, you die - I wasn't prepared to die just yet. That would just seem ungrateful to Dr Martinez and her daughter.

Finally, Dr Martinez returned to the room, a smile on her face that no longer seemed forced at all.

"Your room's ready for when you go up. In the meantime, how's about we watch a movie?"

* * *

Sorry for the long wait XD Next one might be a little longer, because I only have part of chapter eight pre-written, and I like to be a couple of chapters ahead of myself before I post. I don't have time to go through all of the reviewers seperately, but they've all been marked down for the competition!

In case you missed it _**The person who has reviewed the most at the end of the story will get two OCs of their choice in the sequel to this story!**_ Its not the most interesting prize in the world, but you get a basket or two of virtual cookies to go with it.

**IMPORTANT STUFF FOLLOWS:** I'd also like to clarify that this story and its sequal will follow the same basic potline as TAE and SOF, and then the story changes direction from then on, purely because otherwise it would all be too similar, and I'd be practically copying the books, which wouldn't be fun for you guys _or_ me. The flock members WILL have different powers to the ones in the book, and different things will happen.

On another note, would anyone mind if its Max that gets mauled by the eraser at the start of the SOF re-write? I know its supposed to be Fang, but I'm debating changing it because Max being hurt badly will fit in with the rest of the story a little better.

Lastly, I may have to start swapping POVs slightly. They'll only ever be one - or two, at a stretch - POVs in a chapter, and the only other character that I'm likely to write from is Fang. Still, would you prefer me to keep it all in Max, and then do another story with Fang being the narrator? Its an interesting concept, and after the exams I'll have eleven weeks of nothing but time to kill.

Let me know what you think, and, well, _**REVIEW? **_Please?


	7. Epiphany

**Yes, I am editing this almost seconds after posting this, so sorry if you get two update alerts XD I completely forgot to add my AN. And forgot to change the name of the title from Realization to Epiphany, so there you go. I just wanted to say that I have to admit to being a little upset by the lack of reviews on the last chapter. I guess that's a little selfish, huh? So, I wanted to ask if there was something in particular that put people off? Don't be afraid to let me know, because if it wasn't something that I _need_ for the plot, then I'll probably change it. At the end of the day, this is written not just for my enjoyment, but the enjoyment of the readers as well.**

**You're all really important. **

**Also! Remember... the competition. Want to have to OCs in the sequal? Then _REVIEW._ The person who has submitted the most reviews at the end of the story gets to submit two OCs for the sequal. And I now sound like one of those cheesy competition presenters off the music channels like Scuzz and Kerrang that me and my sister always complain about. Nevermind, you win some, you lost some. **

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* * *

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**Chapter Seven- Epiphany**

The sunlight was filtered by the pale yellow curtains, but, as always, it was the thing that awoke me.

Fang stirred next to me, fluffing his wings out so that they tickled my side- I smiled slightly, snuggling back under the crème duvet, trying to savour the warmth. It was around then that my mind caught up with my body, and I realised that the bed that I'd _thought _that I was lying in- the one at the cabin- had an ugly green, brown and red tartan patterned duvet and pillow set.

This clearly wasn't the cabin.

Panicking, I bolted upright- a sharp pain in my shoulder made me bite my lip, and nearly fall backwards in a mix of pain and surprise. Luckily, as always, Fang had bolted upright when I did- and he caught me, supporting me with ease.

"Where are we?" I groaned, as I reached up a hand to touch my tender shoulder and Fang knocked my hand away with ease.

"We're staying with Dr Martinez and Ella, remember?" I looked at him blankly, and he sighed. "You got shot- when you went down to save Ella from those bozos with the guns..."

There was a long pause, and then my mind did recall vaguely the events of last night- though they were hazy, which was weird, thanks to my normally amazing memory. "Right. I guess I was pretty out of it." I confirmed.

"Yeah. You fell asleep during the movie."

"Ah," I laughed. "That explains why I can't remember how it ended." I looked down for the first time and realised that I was in my second lot of pyjamas (we'd had to throw the first lot away after we realised that they were covered in soot from the chimney incident).

"I offered to change you, but Dr M insisted that she do it herself." Fang laughed. "She doesn't seem to like the idea of the two of us being so close. Maybe it's not normal, or something?"

"Nothing about us is normal," I groaned, flopping back against the pillows. Fang slid down so that he was propped up on one elbow, lying on his side and facing me. "It's never going to be. Maybe we should just stop trying."

"You're pessimistic this morning." Fang said, smirking annoyingly. I reached out and hit him upside the head with my free arm.

"You'd be pessimistic, too, if you were in my shoes." I shot back, and Fang opened his mouth to say something (probably about how I wasn't wearing any shoes) right as the door was opened.

"Max?" Val asked, as she peeked her head round the edge of the door. "Nick? Are you up? I'm making breakfast, if you want some."

"Sure." Fang said, climbing over me and out of the bed, and reaching back a hand to tug me out, something that took little effort on his behalf. We were just about to follow her out of the door when the door flew as far open as it could, and three canine shapes rushed into the room. Instinct took over, and I leapt out of the way of their running charge, ready to attack and defend in an instant.

"Whoa." Dr M said. "I'm so sorry- you shouldn't worry though, they're completely friendly."

I had, in my brief moment of panic, expected to see some new form of erasers tearing into the room- what I was faced with, however, was three pet dogs with tongues lolling out of their mouths and tails wagging as they stamped their feet excitedly. Relaxing slightly, I held my hand out for the dogs to sniff, and had to resist to squeal like a little girl when one of them licked my hand.

"The brown and white one is Magnolia- she's the mum of the three of them in personality, although they're not related. The gorgeous white one is Akila, she's a purebred Alaskan malamute that used to belong to my friend. She was a guard dog on their boat, the Wendy K, but they gave her to me when she became pregnant. The little black and white one's Nenna, she works on the farm- but she's still a puppy really." She said, pointing out all of the dogs in turn.

I had to agree the Akila was stunning, although her bulging belly kind of detracted from her beauty somewhat.

"When's she due?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"Any day now," Dr M said. "I'll show you the birthing box and everything when you come down, if you want." I grinned as I nodded- finding myself strangely fascinated. I'd seen a lot of death in my fifteen years, but no births. It would be nice to see something from the other end of the spectrum for once.

"With any luck she'll have her puppies before we have to leave again, it'd be pretty cool to see that." I said, smiling at her. She smiled back, but it immediately dropped into a frown- I had a feeling that it was something that I'd said that had caused said frown, but was stumped as to what. Maybe my curiosity wasn't normal for a teenager? Who knew. I certainly didn't.

She offered another tight-lipped smile before heading downstairs, Fang and I sharing bemused looks as we followed her down the stairs. Sometimes humans were so hard to understand, which led me to the decision that the two percent bird in us had changed more things about us than it outwardly appeared.

When we reached the kitchen, it was to be greeted with the mouth watering aromas of every delicious breakfast food in the world. I swear, it was all there on Dr M's tiny little four-seater kitchen table, just ready for the taking. She motioned for us to sit down, and we did so without having to be told twice, and when she laughing told us to not "just sit there", and to "dig in." we happily obliged.

It was the best meal I'd had in years.

Dr M laughed as she watched us, before grabbing a plate and loading her own food on. She ate a lot for a human of her petite size (waist wise, at least- she was pretty tall), but no-where near as much as Fang and I, who probably devoured more than our fair share of it. Finally, she sat back and observed us for a second, before a small frown appeared again, and she spoke.

"Oh, before I forget, there's some bird shampoo and stuff that I found and left in the bathroom – I thought it'd probably be better for your wings than the normal stuff." She smiled.

"Thanks," I said, surprised by her generosity. Bird shampoo wasn't something that you came across every day, and therefore had to be pretty expensive.

"It's no problem, really. Ella has school today, and I'm at the clinic – which means that you two have the house all to yourselves. Maybe you could wash them today – although you'll have to be careful not to get it in your bullet wound, Max."

I was once again impressed by her level of trust that she was displaying, and would ordinarily consider it to be naivety. With Dr M, I wasn't sure that it was. I smiled my thanks at her, remembering just in time Jeb's first failed lesson in manners, and stopping myself from verbally thanking her.

Finally finishing and pushing the half of a pancake that I couldn't finish over to Fang, I cleared my throat and smiled at her slightly, sitting back in my seat.

"Are you finished?" She asked, and when I nodded, she grinned. "I'll show you the birthing box now then, if you want."

I nodded enthusiastically, and followed her out of the room. Fang made to follow, but I shook my head – offering him a reassuring grin. If we were expecting Dr M to trust us, then we had to allow her a little trust, too. Besides, it's not like Fang wouldn't be able to hear if something went wrong – our hearing was way better than that.

She led me through a door into what seemingly was a converted garage, but now looked like a homely little place. A large area was fenced off with wooden panels, and now I knew what she meant by a birth box. One side had a little door in it that was open, folded down to the floor in such a way that it would be easy for Akila to let herself in and out – even with her belly the size that it was.

The inside of the box itself had three sections; one was heavily laden with newspapers, in a thick covering across the wooden floor. I assumed that was the place where Akila would give birth. Next to it was a small, nest like section filled with towels and blankets, even a few stuffed toys; by the looks of things, Akila had modified it herself, leaving a space big enough for her to lay down comfortably. The third was a long strip filled with small toys, and a litter tray. I assumed that it was a play area for the puppies, for when they were a little older.

"What do you think?" Dr M asked, leaning against the wall and gazing at my broad grin.

"That must've taken ages to make, but it looks really good." I offered, turning to study it again. As cool as it was, the wooden material forming such a shape was taking me back to memories of the maze at the school; a place that I really didn't want to re-visit. It was stupid that after all this time I would still flash back to them moments in times like these.

Honestly, the box didn't even really look like a maze. The maze at the school was made out of metal sheets; thick, sturdy and impossible to break through, but even seeing something that would make Akila so enclosed was making my head spin. The walls seemed to be pressing in around me, and I had to fight to keep my breathing steady.

"Max, are you alright?" Dr M's concerned voice asked, her hand touching my shoulder reassuringly. A sheer moment of panic had me jerking away, unable to contemplate allowing someone other than Fang to touch me in such a way.

And then Fang was there. His arms were around me, holding me tight as his presence fought back the suffocating walls of claustrophobia. Breathing became easier, and I resisted the urge to cry – burying my head in Fang's shoulder to keep from the embarrassment of Dr M seeing how stupid I was being.

"Nick? What's going on?" Dr M's voice was rising almost to frantic as my trembling began to slow.

"It's alright, she's alright." He said gently, although I was pretty sure that the statement was aimed more at me than Dr M. I nodded my agreement and after ensuring that my eyes and face were dry I stepped out of Fang's arms. He studied me for a moment, before taking a small step backwards – as impassive as ever.

Breathing deeply, I turned and offered Dr M a smile that I hoped didn't waver as much as it felt that it felt it did.

She was frowning, but didn't question us again as she said: "Well, I've got to get Ella to school and then get to work myself, remember that the shampoo's up there, and there's homemade cookies in the kitchen. Oh, and Max? No flying. At all, I mean it – it could cause permanent damage." She grinned, and then disappeared out of the doorway, leaving Fang and I looking at each other, bemused. Only a few minutes later I heard the front door shut, and raised an eyebrow at Fang.

"You alright? You were really freaked out back there." He said, after a small pause.

"Fine," I said softly. "I was just being stupid. Now, I hate to say it, but washing my wings with proper feather-suitable shampoo sounds pretty good to me. I'll help you if you help me..." I trailed off, and Fang nodded, before the two of us headed up to the larger bathroom, on the second floor.

With our lack of inhibitions provided by seeing each other in way too few clothes since young children, stripping down to my tank top and girls boxers in front of Fang wasn't particularly embarrassing. To be honest, embarrassment was nothing but an illusion between us – one that had been forced for Jeb's peace of mind, more than anything.

Fang had instructed me to go first, and so I settled myself down in the tub, sitting cross-legged to the left hand side of the tub and facing the wall, so that I could extend my wing to its full seven feet.

I could see Fang grinning slightly as he started up the shower, and the water gushed out cold. For a second, I thought he was going to turn the freezing shower head on me, and then he turned the hot water on and grinned mischievously – his eyes saying, '_Got you going there, didn't I?'_

I frowned at him in response, but couldn't help but sigh as the hot water hit my wings, and Fang gently massaged the feathers – dampening them all. The feeling of hands running through my feathers was sensational – but something that happened rarely. The whitecoats had used to handle our wings all the time, but they'd done it roughly, and generally left the pattern disrupted, and flight harder than it had to be.

When we'd gone to the E-shaped house, Jeb had offered to wash our wings, but had quickly stopped after realising that neither of us were comfortable with it – the feeling of hands on feathers was a far too intimate experience to be sharing with him. It was an experience to be reserved for only the closest of friends and family members, and despite all of Jeb's efforts, he was neither.

Fang was the only person that I'd ever been comfortable with touching my wings. Maybe because I'd known him for so long, maybe because he was my best friend, or maybe it was because he was part bird, too. I didn't know. Didn't really care, either.

Fang managed to avoid the bullet wound in my wing spectacularly well, and since I was already dripping wet, he offered to do my hair for me afterwards. I was tempted to resist, but who knew how long we were going to have a shower for, so I relented and chose to relish with the gentle way that he massaged my scalp and teased the knots out of my hair.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of pure bliss, it was time to swap, and Fang stripped down to his boxers and stepped into the tub, as I moved to stand behind him. Fang had been kneeling whilst washing my wings and hair, but since he was so much taller than me, I had to stand. We'd been the same height once, but he'd grown a lot since then, and left me behind in the race to six foot. Never let me forget it, either.

I had to admit, that rubbing the shampoo into his feathers and hair, and then washing it out again was surprisingly therapeutic. I'd figured that it would only be relaxing on one end, and I'd never been so surprised to prove myself wrong.

After about half an hour in the bathroom and a further ten minutes re-dressing, we were back downstairs and I was feeling strangely relaxed and sleepy, and curled up on my side with my head resting on the arm of the sofa that Fang and I were sharing – I was so sleepy in fact, that I couldn't even be bothered to correct my shirt when the neck (which was far too large, the shirt belonged to Fang) fell off my shoulder.

I was just getting comfortable when Fang leant over and started to fiddle with the collar of my shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" I groaned, trying to shrug him off.

"Max, in all seriousness, can you sit up, please?" He asked, grumbling to myself I did so, he moved the collar of my shirt again, his face hard when he said, "Take it off."

"What?" I asked, confused as I craned my neck to see what he was looking at.

"Take the shirt off. You're wearing a tank top, right? Good."

Confused, I did was he asked, and was surprised to discover just what Fang had been looking at. On my upper arms, two bruises of handprints were just starting to fade away, as if I'd been grabbed by the upper arms. Fang clearly hadn't seen them before because he'd been facing my back and concentrating on what he was doing, and I hadn't really been paying much attention.

"When did this happen?" He asked softly – I just shook my head. Sighing, Fang gently laid his fingers over the bruises (careful not to inflict any unnecessary pain whilst doing so). "Do you remember anyone grabbing you like this?" He asked.

"No, never-" I started to say, and then cut myself off.

_"No kidding," Was Fang's response, he grabbed the handles of the trolley, and started steering it out of the way- as was habit, I kept a hold of the side with one hand, whilst allowing my eyes my eyes to wander the shelves in search of cereal. Generally speaking, Fang was pretty good at steering the trolley in a way that meant that I wasn't going to bang into anyone, and I trusted him completely._

_It must have been an off day for him, because half way down the aisle, I felt myself slam into somebody, and a moment later, heard the crash of two shopping trolleys colliding forcefully. The person that I'd walked into was both bigger and heavier than me, and I felt myself begin to fall backwards only a second or so after we'd first smacked together. I thought, for a second, that I was going to find out just how cold the cheap linoleum flooring was, and then the still unidentified stranger grabbed the tops of my arms to steady me._

_I heard Fang cursing in the background, and assumed that he was ensuring that the trolley hadn't been completely destroyed in the crash._

"Oh my God." I said quietly.

"What?" Fang asked.

"The guy in the store – the one that I crashed into. It was him. Oh, God, I'm so _stupid_. I _told_ you that my Max-O-Meter was dinging at eleven and a half, but I couldn't figure out _why_. He was an eraser!"

_"I'd like to check out please," I said, as pleasantly as I could- distinctly aware that my nervousness and fear was back. My hands were shaking as the clerk nodded and I handed the key over. He took it with a controlled movement of his arms that made the feeling all the more worse; some part of my mind was telling me that he was dangerous- and to get out of there; the more logical side won out, and I waited for him to nod and say,_

_"You're all paid up. Thanks for staying here, hope to see you again." With a voice like velvet before smiling as politely as I could and all but bolting across the room._

_"What was that about?" Fang asked, glancing at me concernedly as he handed me my four bags, before allowing his eyes to wander over my shoulder to study the clerk- who was now dealing with a young family, and looking completely innocent. _

_"Nothing; I, just… something doesn't feel right. Hasn't all day." Fang looked concerned, and like he was a second away from leaning over and placing the back of his hand to my forehead and asking if I was sick like we'd seen all the people in the movies do._

_"On a scale of one to ten, just how fast is your Max-o-meter dinging?" He asked instead, surprising me._

_"Eleven and a half," I answered truthfully, and then, "You feel it too?"_

"And so was the clerk at the hotel. That's how they knew that we'd be home – they knew exactly what time we checked out, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out how long the flight home would take. They've been watching us this whole time!"


	8. Family

**Chapter Eight- Family**

When Dr M returned, it was to find Fang and I (who had fallen asleep on the sofa) struggling to rouse ourselves, and practically tripping over each other whilst trying to get to our feet. Having a full night's sleep was clearly making us lazy. Well, either that or the TV – which I distinctly remembered the two of us enjoying before we dozed off.

She stood and watched us for a long moment, and then laughed, reaching over to help untangle us from the blanket that we'd carried down. Finally untangled, I stumbled to my feet.

_"Note to self: improve instant waking skills. Seriously."_

"Well," Dr M smiled. "I'm glad to see that you've been making good use of your time in catching up on your sleep." For a second I thought she was being sarcastic, but a glance at her face proved that she wasn't. She actually seemed very happy that we'd been catching up on our sleep, which was something that I found a little weird.

Jeb had been, before his disappearance, training us on how to run on as little sleep as possible – sleep was, as he'd put it, just a waste of time after all.

"Now, since you're sleeping on the sofa, I'm assuming that you haven't cracked out the cookies yet? Join me?"

"Sure." I mumbled, letting loose a jaw-breaking yawn as I followed her into the kitchen. Somehow, despite the large amount of sleep that I'd already had, I was still tired, and Fang's hand on the small of my back was the only thing that kept me moving in a semi-straight line. I sunk gratefully into the kitchen chair that Dr M pulled out for me with a smile, letting my head rest on my folded arms on the table as Fang slipped into the chair next to me and gently rubbed my back – in between my wings.

"You alright?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah," I yawned again. "Jus' really sleepy."

"It's an after effect of the gunshot wound." Dr M explained to Fang, and then to me as she sat down opposite me (with three mugs of hot chocolate and a large plate of cookies), "You should start to have a little more energy within the next couple of days. In the meantime, there's no remedy better than a hot chocolate, a homemade chocolate-chip cookie and a movie night with me and Ella when she gets back. Sound good?"

"Sounds great." I said with feeling, leaning over a grabbing one of the cookies. It was still warm, and surprise filled me as I bit into it.

"Max?" Fang asked, his tone concerned. He was probably thinking that the cookie was poisoned or something.

"I think I just died and went to heaven," I sighed, and then shoved a cookie at him. "Here, try one." He looked at my strangely, before hesitantly biting into it; he chewed thoughtfully for a second before shoving the rest in and leaning over for another. I laughed slightly, reaching for another for myself, and noticed the sad look in Dr M's eyes as she watched us with a small smile on her face.

"Are you alright?" I asked her hesitantly, and then glanced at Fang. "Did we do something wrong? Were we only supposed to take one? I'm sorry, I think we both just got a little excited—"

She laughed a little. "No, Max. You haven't done anything wrong. Not you, or-" She hesitating, smiling slightly as she said, "Nick." Clearly she knew that it wasn't his real name. Hey, give me a break, I'd been a little preoccupied with being in a strange environment and bleeding all over the place.

"I just - well, you act like you haven't had a life like this, where you get to sleep in a warm bed and relax, and that makes me a little sad (and a little mad) if I'm honest." She smiled a little at us, shifting in a fashion where she almost looked embarrassed under our gazes.

"Oh." Was all that I could reply, unsure of what a normal person would say in response to that. Dr M seemed to feel the tension in the air, and grinned mischievously before saying.

"Alright. Time to confess. _Nick_, what are you _really_ called?" She was grinning, but not in the I'm-going-to-rip-you-to-shreds-whilst-cackling-manically way that I was used to, so I nodded at Fang that it was alright to tell her.

"Fang." He answered, with a small shrug.

Dr M paused, and then smiled slightly, saying the word slowly at first - as if testing it out for the first time. "Fang. It suits you actually, which is probably the strangest thing that I've said all week. Do either of you have surnames?"

"I go by Ride. Like Sally Ride, the astronaut? She was one of the people that Jeb taught us about when we were little-" I clamped my mouth shut, surprised and angry at myself for slipping up in such a huge way. Fang had turned to look at me in surprise, and I ducked my head under his gaze. I couldn't believe that I'd just done that.

Dr M's face was instantly tense. "Jeb? Did he look after you?" She asked, fighting to keep her voice calm and care-free. Fang nodded slightly, still looking at me in disbelief. I mumbled a sorry at him before taking along drink of my drink to steady my nerves.

Thankfully, Ella chose that moment to bang through the back door, startling two out of three dogs to start yapping, Dr M frowned, and looked over to where Nenna and Magnolia were sitting patiently for Ella to say hello, tails wagging. The question on her lips was easy to read, _where was Akila?_

I may of only been here for a day and a bit, but I had noticed that the three dogs seemed to stick together. Joint at the hip, a bit like me and Fang. There was a seconds hesitation, and then Ella and Dr M's eyes locked and Dr M all but jumped out of her chair, suddenly grinning as her and Ella headed for the garage.

Confused, Fang and I exchanged a look and then followed them.

Dr M had turned the light on when she headed in, allowing her and Ella to see what was going on – although mine and Fang's vision would of allowed us to see regardless. Akila was lying on her side in her nest, panting heavily, and seemingly straining.

It took a little longer than it should of register what was going on. Ella was bustling for towels and wet rags, and Dr M had crouched next to Akila – talking to her in soothing tones, and stroking a hand up and down her flank. Akila was giving birth to her puppies. I couldn't help but grin in excitement, and glance at Fang as I did so – he looked at my face for a moment, and then a small grin spread across his face, and his hand reached up to squeeze my good shoulder.

* * *

Five hours, twelve towels, fourteen cups of coffee and a great deal of excitement later, Akila fell into an exhausted sleep as Dr M looked over the nine puppies. She had informed Fang and I that the dog that Akila had mated with had been a guard dog on another boat. A German Shepherd, and since I recognised the name of the breed, I assumed that they had been one of many breeds used by The School. Both for guarding and experimentation purposes.

Seven of the nine puppies were an adorable mix of brown, black, tan and white; one of the little girls was pure white, clearly taking after Akila, and the remaining puppy – a little boy, Dr M informed me – was pure black.

"What are you going to do with them all?" I asked as the four of us headed into the kitchen, and sat around the table that was located there. Dr M smiled softly as she sank into the chair that seemed to be her favourite, and Fang and I slipped into the two seats that we'd previously occupied – Ella taking the fourth.

"We'll probably have to give one or two of them away." She said, smiling softly. "Twelve dogs is a lot, even for me, It'll have to be whittled down to a more reasonable number."

There was a long pause before anyone spoke again.

"Right." Dr M sighed, draining the last dregs of her coffee before smiling again and sighing. "Ella, time for bed; I'm gonna head up too, Max, Fang – feel free to stay down here for as long as you want."

The two of us nodded, and watched as the two of them bustled around for a few more seconds, and then disappeared upstairs.

"Good day." Fang commented, sliding back in his chair so that he was slouched, hands in his pockets. Sighing, I stood to pour myself more coffee. The taste was odd, but strangely addictive – Jeb had used to drink it all of the time back at the E-shaped house, and had banned Fang and I from touching the stuff.

I could now see why.

It made me want to jump around, and scream and giggle and lots of other non-practical, and non-Max-like things. Not to mention the fact that it was seriously addictive, the kind of stuff that you knew was screwing with you, but couldn't stop drinking regardless. Fang grinned slightly as I returned with another cup of the stuff. He'd tried it, but hadn't seen so keen, and had only drunk two cups to my five (now six).

"So what's the plan now, boss?" He asked mockingly, a small grin on his face. I smacked him upside the head before settling into the seat opposite him.

"I say we work out our plans tonight, and leave the day after tomorrow. I hate to admit it, but I doubt I'll be able to fly until then - although the wound seems to be healing pretty nicely."

I stretched my wing out slowly as I said so, the movement caused pain to flare through my wing, so I knew that flying was out of the question. Hopefully, bird kid healing would mean that it would be good as new by the day after tomorrow. Or good enough to use, at least.

Fang frowned slightly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Max?" He asked, concern filling his eyes. "Maybe we should wait a few more days-"

"You heard the erasers in the lodge, Fang. Ari said that if we didn't figure it out in time, two bird kids would be eraser feed. Now I don't know about you, but I'm not just about to roll over and let that happen; we were lucky in that Jeb got us out. He was our lucky break, and I have every intention of being theirs."

Fang nodded.

"Alright. Wait here, I'll go and get the boxes and we'll see if we can figure something out, alright? Maybe there'll be a clue or something on them."

He disappeared, and I heard his footsteps recede up the stairs, pause, and then head back again. He emerged with the six boxes balanced precariously in his arms, and proceeded to place them in a semi-circle around myself and my coffee cup - so that they all faced me. I studied them for a moment, before pulling out the boxes that I'd mentally labelled as mine and Fang's, and opened them again.

Our feathers were still lying unperturbed, and this time I had the sense to carefully remove them, laying them on the table before looking back in the boxes. My move paid off. In the bottom of both boxes was a pair of dog tags.

On the front of one was my name, with my experimentation number (LMTGE941909EX2), and the tags from Fang's box were much the same, only with his experimentation number (BWTGE941508EX1) on the second tag rather than mine, and Fang on the first. I gently pulled the tags out, trying to lock down the memories that were playing through my mind.

These were the dog tags that we'd worn back at The School; the ones that we'd abandoned at the bottom of our cages when Jeb got us out. The experimentation tag had been mandatory, but the name tag had been an idea of Jeb's - so that we had something to give us a little hope.

They'd kept our tags, and the message was clear. They hadn't forgotten about us. No matter what happened, they were coming for us, and they weren't going to stop until they got us.

Silently, I slipped the tags over my head - as a reminder, if nothing else, and Fang did the same moments later. Sighing slightly, I placed the feathers back in the boxes, and pulled out the tags from the bottom of the four remaining boxes. They only had one tag on each metal chord, the experimentation tag.

JGTGE942310EX3

ZATGE972911EX4

HWTGE020312EX5

HWTGE041902EX6

The lists of seemingly meaningless letters and numbers proved my suspicions.

Somewhere, out there, there was four more bird kids - just waiting to be rescued.

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**Hey there guys! I guess I lived up to my warning with the whole this-update-might-take-a-while thing, but it's here now. You know, I kind of thought that once I'd left school writing would be as easy as all out - I've _never_ gotten bored of writing before, but my muse has seriously been on the fritz, so updates might be slow for a while.**

**Ah, lol. England are playing in the football at the moment, and I'm sat on the downstairs computer. Every time we get a goal/miss a goal, the entire freaking street goes nuts! Its crazy.**

**Anyways, I wanted to apologize in advance because the next chapters only 1888 words long, so not quite making my 2,000 baseline standard. Sorry about that.**

**Reviews are love, and the competitions still going!**

******QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER [Something new that I'm trying out, but might not catch on]:** What pets have you got and what are they called?

_I have a husky called Misti, who we rescued in November last year, and is three years old; a cat called Misty (Yes, they have the same name. Misti-dog already had her name before we got her, and it suited her too uch to change it. Although normally she gets called _El Muttlay_ or _Floosy-Dog _and the Cat is usually known as _Moo-moo Cow_, or _Moo_). We also have three fishtanks (one in the dining room, one in my room, and one in my sisters). Why have I got fish? They're supposed to help insomnia. They don't._


	9. On The Move Again

**Chapter Nine- On The Move Again**

I couldn't believe that it was time to leave the Martinez's house, or that it had only been a matter of days since I'd first set foot into the house that was now as familiar to me as my own home.

We'd spent yesterday helping Ella around the farm, and had been surprised to find a surplus of animals – including horses, chickens and even two cows. Apparently they were all animals that Dr M had rescued and treated at her vet surgery, which the last place on our list – and our current place of residence.

Dr M had insisted that before we flew a way she at least took an X-ray to ensure that there really wasn't any bone damage, I would've argued, but the look on Fang's face showed that it was reassurance that he needed, even if I didn't. Which was how we ended up here.

The surgery was way too sterile for my liking, invoking a bout of memories that I was incredibly unwilling to re-live. Fang's hand was placed soothingly on my good shoulder. The tenseness of his muscles should probably of ruined the soothing effect, but the message remained the same. Fang was here, and as long as Fang was here, everything was gonna be alright.

"Just relax, Max, sweetheart." Dr M said with a kind smile as she set about pulling an X-ray desk a little further away from the wall so I could spread my wing out a little better. "Just lie down and close your eyes, and it'll all be over in a minute."

I pulled myself up onto the metal table, and glanced at Fang one last time before closing my eyes and lying back – my ears painfully aware of everything that was going on around me. There was a strange beeping noise and then a flash of light behind my closed eyelids that made them look a bright blue.

There was a long pause, and then Dr M told me that I could open my eyes again. I did so slowly, blinking rapidly until the back of my eyelids returned to their usual black colour. Or rather, lack of colour.

Whatever.

Dr M placed a large rectangle of material that I dimly recognised from The School on a light bow, and the X-ray appeared. Dr M was carefully studying the bones in the top of my wing and my shoulder, but as I slid off the table, my eyes were focused on a different part of the image.

"Dr M?" I asked quietly, stepping right up to the box and tapping the flaw that had caught my sight. "What's this?"

I'd seen X-rays of my arm and wing before, back at the school, and never before had I noticed the small square located in the middle of my left wrist. About an inch and a half long, and an inch wide, it was clearly inside my arm, because there was nothing on the outside on my wrist, hoodie or jacket.

Dr M frowned, moving the image up to study it closer. "It looks like..." She trailed off, and shook her head, as if not believing what she was seeing. "It looks like a chip."

"A chip?" I questioned, feeling panic build up in me a little. Fang had stepped forward, and now rested his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly in an attempt to get me to calm down. "What kind of chip?"

"I don't understand. It looks like the ones that people put in the really expensive show dogs, so that if they're stolen or go missing, they can be traced."

That was a little too much information, and I felt my knees go weak for a moment. Fang's arm slipped from my shoulder to around my waist, and he quickly sat me down on the table again. My eyes were trained on my wrist, as if staring at it would make the skin shrink back and the chip fall out.

For a moment, all I did was sit and stare.

And then reality caught up with me, and my eyes were flying around – finally landing on our backpacks.

"We need to get out of here. Now."

"What?" Dr M said, as I bolted from the table and started cramming all the stuff in that had fallen out when we'd dumped them ceremoniously on the floor.

"Do you have a gun?" I asked her, she looked like she was going to question my motives for a moment, and then caught the desperation in my eyes.

"Yes. My husband had a hand gun, it's still in the house somewhere, but Max, I don't understand–"

"Can you shoot it?" I asked her, beginning to zip the bag up as Fang moved to survey the area out of the windows. She nodded slightly, before admitting that her aim was a little off.

"Right. As soon as you can, you take yourself and Ella down to the shooting range, and you don't leave until you can shoot a perfect bulls eye blindfolded and dizzy, alright? You don't answer the door to anyone that you don't know, and if anyone asks, your house was broken into. You don't know who did it, and you never saw us. You've got Fang's new email address? If anyone starts asking questions about us, you get in touch ASAP. Alright?"

Dr M just stood, watching for a moment, before speaking slowly. "Someone's hunting you. Someone dangerous."

I nodded. "I'm sorry, we never should of put you in danger like this. It was selfish and unthinking, and I wish that there was a way to change it—"

Dr M cut me off, saying simply: "I don't."

I did a double take, and Fang turned to face her in disbelief. Her face was hard, but her eyes still remained warm and motherly.

"Max, I don't care about who comes after Ella and I. Whatever it is, we'll take care of it. Helping you, helping the both of you, is something that I'll never regret doing. Please, don't _ever_ hesitate in coming back to stay with us. Whether you need help, or you just want a place to crash, our door is always open."

I'll admit something to you right now. I was speechless.

Humans sure were stupid sometimes.

It was only a few hours of flying later that I allowed myself to slow down from full speed. Fang hadn't said anything since we'd left the Martinez's (after Dr M had made us wait for Ella to return, and the largest batch of cookies ever had been baked for us to take with us), and I hadn't made any attempts to make conversation.

"Max." Fang said softly. I refused to look at him.

All this time, I'd been putting the two of us in danger. Everyone that we'd ever cared about, and had ever cared about us, had been put in danger because of me. Heck, I was probably the reason that Jeb was dead now, too.

They must of figured that he was with us, after all, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the _adult_ would be the one to leave the safety of the house to get supplies. They could of been waiting for months for one of us to stray just a little too far, and Jeb had been the first to make that mistake.

And now I'd put Dr M and Ella in that very same danger. For all we knew, erasers and whitecoats could be on their way to their house right now. Looking for us, but with no inhibitions about killing to two humans in the process.

"Max, you couldn't of known." Fang said gently, shifting so that his wing brushed mine more heavily on the down stroke, but no heavy enough that he knocked me off balance or anything.

"We should of figured that they'd of taken _some_ safety precautions with us. They weren't going to risk us getting free without some reassurance that they'd be able to track us down again. Not ever. We should of _guessed_, Fang."

"Come on, Max._ We_ didn't even think that we were going to get free, how they hell we were supposed to know that they thought we were? Besides, we don't know for sure that the chip's for tracking us. It could be for anything! Like measuring what height we're flying at, or recording your blood pressure or heart rate. We could have this all horribly wrong."

I shook my head at him.

"Do you really believe that? Honestly?"

He didn't have anything to say to that, and we lapsed back into silence.

"Look. Dr M didn't even want you flying today, never mind three hours at full speed; can we just find somewhere to land, please?" He asked after a long while.

I was tempted to say no, but settled for nodding instead – realising now that I thought about it that my shoulder and wing were both actually hurting quite badly. My raptor vision allowed me to scan the mountains that we were flying over with ease, and I began to noticing small things that I hadn't before, my brow furrowing as I did so.

"Max?" Fang asked, clearly noticing my expression. "What is it?"

"This is Lake Mead." I said softly, my eyes finally catching what I'd been looking for. The very path that Jeb had driven along when he freed us from The School.

"And?" Fang asked, clearly not realising where the conclusion that my frantic mind had come to. I turned my head to meet his eyes with an iron resolve.

"And we have our plans. We're going to The School. Tomorrow."

"Max—" Fang started, but I shook my head as my eyes fell upon a cave.

"You promised." Was all I said, before angling down and shooting into the cave without so much as a glance back. Part of our plan all along had been to raid The School for information, and that was now more important than ever. I needed to know what this chip did, and heck, maybe destroying The School would destroy whatever information they were gaining from it.

Fang landed in the cave only a few moments after me, frowning and shaking his head, but said nothing.

Sighing slightly, I began pulling food out of my backpack and Fang set up a fire. A few minutes later, we were roasting hot dogs on sticks and ignoring the strange noises from the outside of the cave as the two of us sat around the fire.

"I will do this with you, Max." Fang said gently, keeping his eyes focused on his stick. "But I think we should wait a day. Tomorrow we should do a perimeter sweep, and then head to the local village or town or whatever and get our bearings. See the best route to take to get in or whatever, and give you a chance to heal up a little."

My original plan had been to reject the idea of waiting another day, but I had to admit that Fang made a convincing argument, and sighed before nodding.

"Fine. The day after tomorrow, we go in. Let's just hope that it's not too late."

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A/N: Gonna be slow for a while guys, sorry. I'm having a two-week sleepover with my best friend, and I'm falling behind with my writing. So sorry :[

**Anyone see Eclipse? Anyone deliberately avoiding it? Any thoughts on anything Twilight related? Shoot.**

**ALSO: Anyone have any thoughts on what they've heard of ANGEL so far?**

**P.S. THE COMPETITION IS STILL ON, SOOOOO _REVIEW._**


	10. Captured

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**Check out my new story, Shadows of the Past?

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Chapter Ten- Captured

"We need to buy more food today." Fang said quietly as the two of us sat at the back of the cave.

We'd slept for as long as my conscious would allow, whilst the knowledge that there was still mutants stuck in cages out there was at the forefront of my mind. Fang had heard me tossing and turning, and decided that rather than sleeping, he was going to join me in devouring the last two chocolate bars in the back of the cave.

The sun was beginning to rise now, warning us that yet another day was dawning.

"We could go down to a diner for breakfast, and then we can go shopping for food." I said gently, eyes still on the horizon. It was then and only then that I noticed the birds. A moment of confusion passed as I stared at them, and then I recognised them as hawks. Frowning as I failed to decipher what type of Hawks they were, I headed to the mouth of the cave, and stopped dead.

Having entered the cave last night, Fang and I hadn't left it again until now; which was perhaps the only understandable reason that we'd missed the fact that our cave was surrounded by twenty or so nests. A hawk sat on each one, some holding two or three – coupled with the birds that were flying, there must have been at least thirty of the creatures.

Beady eyes traced me as I froze, and the feathers of the nearest birds ruffled as Fang appeared, confusion on his face.

"Sit down," I whispered to him. "Very slowly, and let your wings out."

Fang didn't argue, and did exactly what I'd told him to as I did the same. The hawks eyed us suspiciously, but their feathers smoothed out as a long moment, and they finally turned back to what they were doing before.

"Ferringous Hawks." Fang whispered, dark eyes tracking the way that they moved through the air. After a long moment he turned to look at me and grinned before saying slyly, "It's a little early for breakfast yet, isn't it? Fancy a fly?"

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Flying with the hawks was something that I'd never forget. After the initial awkwardness, they'd accepted us almost straight into their flock, and we'd been doing tricks for ages afterwards. Finally, our hunger had meant that breakfast was no longer a plan, but a necessity and we'd flown with the hawks as far as the edge of a town, where they'd turned and headed back to the caves.

Whilst flying with them, Fang and I had begun to notice methods of flying that would help with our own, and the two of them were eager to put them to use as we flew towards a gas-station-and-diner complex on the edge of the town. Randomly banking, swerving and barrel rolling, I was amazed to find that I could move my primary feathers individually – meaning that my flight was a lot more controlled.

Fang had stopped his random movements a while ago in favour of watching me as I spiralled and swirled – sometimes dangerously close to him. He had a small smile on his face, and I knew that both of us were happy to be in the air again.

As much as I'd enjoyed staying with the Martinez's, being told that I wasn't allowed to fly for the entirety of our stay was something that I'd be unlikely to ever even contemplate enjoying. Flying was a part of us, and a part that I was unhappy to of ignored for so long.

There was an essence of freedom, being up here, where no-one could touch us. Up here, we were invincible.

"Heads up." Fang called, nodding – ironically – down, I followed his gaze and noted that the highway had lead off to a garage, with a car-stop diner. It would be perfect, especially since it was surrounded on three out of four sides by thick, lush forest. I nodded back to him, and we both began to circle, slowly getting closer as we looked for a relatively large clearing to land in.

Finally spotting one, the two of us landed gracefully – practicing the way that the hawks had done it with ease. It was a scarier concept to master than the way that we'd landed beforehand, involving closing out wings only to whoosh them out at the last minute and break the momentum of the fall so that we could land neatly.

I grinned at Fang, realising that we'd mastered the new landing concept on only our second try (the first having failed epically, because we'd had to land in the cave). The two of us smacked fists briefly, before shouldering our windbreakers and heading through the forest in the direction of the small diner.

We reached it within a matter of minutes, but hesitated on the sidelines; waiting for a moment where no-one was likely to see us out of the bushes and ask questions. Finally, the moment presented itself, and we were just stepping forward when a fancy car screeched into the car park – stopping as close to a machine implanted into the wall as was possible without breaking the side-view mirror.

Fang and I retreated back into the bushes, immediately blending into the shadows, as the window wound down and an agitated voice carried to out to our ears.

"No, _you_ shut up, you idiot. If you hadn't of lost your card, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place!" He snapped, and stuck what looked like a rectangular card of plastic into one of the slots; he pressed a few buttons and then money spewed out. Fang and I exchanged surprised looks – neither of us had realised that there were machines that handed out money.

That was pretty cool.

The man collected the money, and the card, and was about to fly back out of the car park in a similar fashion to the way that he'd come in when a second car flew into the park, narrowly avoiding a collision with the fancy red one.

This one was huge, and black – built more like a tank than a car, and I felt my blood freeze in my veins as a the cushmobile's owner leant out of the window and started spewing swearwords (including a new one, which I tucked away for further use), only to be cut off by another, deeper voice that I recognised instantly.

"That's not polite." Ari said, leaning out of his window.

I presumed that the man spotted the feral look in Ari's eyes, because he beat a hasty retreat; one of Ari's cronies popped inside, and returned roughly twenty minutes later with about ten bags of food – obviously pre-ordered. He climbed in the car, and then the erasers were shooting away – leaving Fang and I hidden in the woods, hearts beating in our chests.

"Food run?" Fang asked suspiciously.

"Must have been." I confirmed. "Right, let's just get something to eat and get out of here."

Fang nodded and, no longer worried about who might see us, the two of us stepped out of the bushes and stood inside.

The inside of the diner smelt delicious, and I was relieved to find that there was no-one queuing; the only other occupants were two families with small children and an elderly couple – no-one that looked even remotely eraser-ish.

"Hello there," The woman behind the counter said with a small smile. "How may I help you?"

"Uh, I'd like a double cheeseburger, a fried-chicken sandwich, a chocolate shake, a pack of fries and two large chocolate chip cookies?" I asked, the woman nodded slightly and smiled when I requested that the chocolate chip cookies be placed in a bag to take a way.

I think the woman had assumed that I'd ordered for both of us, because when Fang stepped forward she looked more than a little confused.

"Okay," He said. "Can I please have: three double cheeseburgers, a chocolate shake, three packets of fries, and three apple pies to go, please?"

"Uh, sure. The rest to eat in?" The two of us nodded, and she sent the order off.

Less than fifteen minutes later the two of us were digging in heartily to our meals. Was I a tough-as nails girl? Yes. Did I whimper like a baby when I sunk my teeth into my burger? Also yes. For a while, the two of us just sat and ate in companionable silence, and then I became aware that the back of my neck was prickling dangerously.

I took a casual glance around, noting that the families and elderly couple had been replaced with dozens of model-type guys wearing black. Erasers.

"Fang." I muttered under my breath. "We need to make a dash for it, fly as fast as we can outta here."

Fang shook his head, "Are you crazy? You just got shot, there's no way you'll be able to fly fast enough to dodge bullets!"

I thought for a long moment, before grinning in triumph.

"Can you remember how to hotwire a car?"

Fang nodded almost imperceptible, and I allowed myself to sag a little in relief. "Good." I continued. "In five seconds, you're going to excuse yourself to the toilet. You'll leave your pack. Exactly three minutes later, I'm going to come barrelling out of those front doors, and you'd better be out front for me, or I'm screwed, alright?"

Fang nodded slightly.

"Jeez." He said loudly. "I'm gonna head to the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute?" He excused, wiping his mouth with a napkin and acting completely normal as he stood and headed to the bathroom. I continued eating through my food, eyes on the clock as I slowly moved mine and Fang's backpacks with my feet so that they were in the prime position for… now.

Without warning, I grabbed both bags and vaulted over the table, the next booth over, and ran straight through the door – relieved to see Fang waiting outside of the door in a… red van(?) with the passenger door wide open. I leapt in and slammed the door shut behind me as the two of us screeched out of the car park.

"Nice plan." Fang said. "Didn't even need hotwiring, they left us a handy little key."

I shook my head slightly, dumping the backpacks in the footrest as I saw the erasers peel out of the little diner behind us, and climb into their fancy cars.

"Here comes the real fun." I commented dryly. Fang took a glance in the rear-view mirror, and we nearly went careening into a car containing a family with two young kids. "I tell you what. You keep your eyes on the road and _I'll_ keep my eyes on the bad guys." I said, watching him nervously - suddenly not so sure about our plan; what if we crashed?

Despite the fact that Jeb had taught us how to hotwire a car, he'd never taught us to drive. We were literally making it up as we went along, and I had a feeling that it wasn't going to end well. The erasers were gaining on us now, meaning that Fang had to step the speed up even more.

"We've got to get off this road." I said desperately as Fang swerved dangerously to avoid yet another car, the van teetering precariously on two wheels for a long moment before lying flat again.

Fang nodded, and veered suddenly left –straight into a corn field. For a moment I almost breathed in relief, and then something smashed into the front of the van, and the two of us went jolting forwards – straight through the windscreen.

Falling was nothing new to us; goodness knows we'd done it enough times when Jeb – the poor, wingless being that he was – had tried to teach us to fly. Thankfully, all of the practice was now coming in handy, and we managed to twist ourselves in the air, landing in the least painful way possible.

Fang had his windbreaker off and was in the air in a split second; I was a couple of seconds behind him, windbreaker off and leaping in the air when a hand closed around my ankle, dragging me back into the puddle of glass on the floor.

"Max!" Fang roared, speeding towards me – eyes locked on the eraser that had pulled me ungraciously to the floor, completely ignoring the other twenty or so. "Get off her, you filthy mutt!"

"No!" I cried, surging to my feet in an effort to stop him, instantly swarmed by erasers. "Fang get out of here – Plan B, remember?"

Fang hesitated, but we both knew that busting out would be a lot harder if we were both back in cages; his eyes locked with me for a long moment.

"I'll be back for you. I'll get you out. I promise, Max." He said, and then turned and flew away as fast as he could.

I felt as if my heart was being torn in two as I watched my best friend fly away; I'd never done anything without Fang at my side before, and something about it felt… wrong.

Of course, I didn't have long to think about that, because somebody hit me around the back of the head with a rifle butt, and the world faded to black.

_"Well,"_ I thought hazily to myself. _"Looks like I'm going back home a little earlier than planned."_

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**A/N** I'm so sorry about the long wait, I haven't had as much time to get on as I thought I would, so sorry. ALSO, I'm going to try to update before I go on Vacation on Saturday (for over a month) but I can't make promises. I SHOULD, however, be able to update at least once whilst I'm there, but again, no promises.

On the upside, I should have plenty of time to write!

Remember, **The competition is still on-going, so... **

**_R E V I E W! _**

**_PS: _**Give me the names of the three people/objects/things you love the most, and why!


	11. The Guardian Experiment

**Chapter Eleven – The Guardian Experiment**

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I groaned, attempting to roll over and hitting metal bars as I did so. A few seconds later a memory of being dragged from the scene of a car crash by erasers filtered to the forefront of my mind, and I found myself bolting upright – smacking my head off the top of my cage.

Groaning loudly, I shifted in the medium sized dog crate; finally settling in a semi-comfortable position, I took my chance to look around. I frowned as I realised where I was – Holding Room One, back at The School. The same holding room where I'd spent the first ten years of my life as a captive.

It seemed almost poetic that I'd returned.

Two erasers were on guard by the door – which was something a little new. Before we'd broken out the first time, everyone had assumed that we were too little/weak/stupid to need guards. Apparently, they'd learnt from their mistakes.

The rest of the room was stacked with cages, just like I remembered it, and it was the less fortunate experiments that caught my eye first. What looked to be a bear cross with huge paws instead of hands, and an almost snout-like face was lying in the bottom of its cage. Eyes sightless and glassed over, the young child was no longer breathing.

A lizard cross had found themselves in much the same position; a bleeding stump where a tail should have been had obviously been the cause of such a death, and I was sure that the once metallic cage would be forever stained a black colour with the blood that coated most of the cage like a sickly paint.

Countless more dead experiments lay where they had fallen – or been thrown – and I closed my eyes for a brief moment, telling myself not to look any more.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The noise was starting to bug me, but when I realised that it was the drip of blood from the cage beneath me onto the floor, I decided that I would simply let it.

Across from me were three more cages, holding the only other three experiments that I thought stood any chance of survival. The one on the end was a small boy, only three or four years old, mousy brown hair and pale skin complimenting the rodent's tail that he'd curled around himself, and the ears that peeked out of his hair, but were lying flattened against his skull.

He was an adorable little thing, but a small tattoo lay on the back of his neck – one that I recognised, telling me (if the calendar hung next to the door was kept up to date) that he had only a further week or so to live.

Next to him was an extra-large dog cage that held two experiments. Their sheets on the front explained that they were siblings, and my heart thudded uncomfortably when I saw their serial numbers.

HWTGE020312EX5 and HWTGE041902EX6.

These two small children (their sheets telling me that the boy was eight, and the girl six) were two of the other birdkids that we'd been warned about. Two of the kids that I'd been determined to set free.

"Hello?" I called, knowing that everything would go a lot more smoothly if the three experiments (since I wasn't going to leave the youngest one here to live his last week undergoing torture) could speak English. All three of them blinked sleepily before glancing around, their eyes finally falling on me.

The little girl smiled, her bright blue eyes knowledgeable. "You're Max. The whitecoats were thinking about you. You've come to get us out." She said quietly, her voice quiet enough that the erasers couldn't hear her.

"That's right, sweetie." I smiled. "Me and my friend are going to get you out of here. What're your names?"

The girl frowned, but the boy nudged her and she continued. "Names? The Whitecoats call the little one Mouse, and him The Gasman."

I smiled a little at that despite myself, although a part of me wondered where a name like The Gasman had come from.

"And you?" I leant forward a little in my cage, careful not to tip it like I'd done countless times before as a small child trying desperately to escape.

"They call me Freak."

I bit back my disgust, admiring the young child's blonde hair and blue eyes before smiling to herself.

"What do they know?" I teased, and she laughed a little. "We'll call you Angel, alright?"

The small girl nodded, eyes trusting despite her situation.

"I like that." Her brother said, speaking for the first time. I nodded, grinning slightly.

I was about to talk again when the door flew open and I found myself frozen in my cage. The whitecoat walking towards me was tall, with familiar brown hair and brown eyes rimmed with rectangular glasses. His white coat was clean, falling neatly over his pressed black trousers and blue shirt. He looked every piece the evil scientist he had just proven himself to be.

"Oh, Maximum. I've missed you sweetheart." He whispered, crouching in front of my cage. For a moment, all I could do was stare at him.

"Jeb." I whispered, and then my brain caught up with me and my gaze hardened. "You _traitor!"_

Inwardly, I was resisting the urge to cry. Jeb had been the only human to show me any level of kindness; he had presented to me what little faith I had in humanity, but he'd been working for them all along. Whilst we'd been back in the E-shaped house, mourning his death, he'd been here – planning our capture.

"I understand that you're upset, Maximum." He said gently. "I need to talk to you. Explain what's going on – help you understand why I did what I did."

I frowned, but said nothing as six erasers filed into the room and Jeb opened the front of the cage. For a second, I was tempted to launch myself at him, but my head was spinning and the six erasers wouldn't hesitate to make me their evening meal. Besides, it would be interesting to see what excuses Jeb had made up concerning his absence, and the fact that he had reappeared in the one place that I hated more than any other.

Slowly, I climbed out of my cage, my head spinning frustratingly, and making my stagger to the side. An eraser caught my arm in a surprisingly gentle grip and held it there to steady me for a long moment, before letting it go. I turned my heard to find Ari facing the front, as if he hadn't just helped me.

Wordlessly, I followed Jeb, the erasers surrounding me and making escape impossible. We walked past countless experimentation labs and a bank of computers before coming to a stop in front of a (white) door labelled _"Jebidiah Batchelder: Guardian Experiment Manager."_

So, Jeb didn't just work for the bad guys, he was an important one himself.

The door opened to reveal an almost normal-looking study. A sturdy, and yet well-worn wooden desk with a soft, cushy chair on one side, and two more opposite. A long sofa lay along the back wall and a small kitchenette ran along the side. The other two walls were decorated with bookcases, full to the brim with books about Birds, humans and their anatomy.

I headed in after Jeb cautiously, and he ordered the erasers to wait outside of the door, leaving just the two of us.

Being in the presence of Jeb without Fang was something that struck me as weird. Fang and I, even back in The School, had been almost inseparable, meaning that one of us was never normally alone with Jeb without the other. The only time that we'd been with him alone was when we were a lot younger, and he'd insisted on him washing our wings whilst we were separate.

We'd hated that enough that it had stopped after the first few months in the house, when Fang and I had point blank refused to go into the bathroom with him.

Jeb was now bustling around the kitchenette as if it was the kitchen back home, and he flashed me a fatherly smile over his shoulder as I settled into one of the two chairs on the side of the desk closest to the door.

"I'll make us some hot chocolate; with those little marshmallows and everything." He said casually, knowing that it was my favourite. "I have to tell you, Max, I'm so proud of you. Everyone said that you'd let Fang accept the leadership role and fall into second-in-command, but you did exactly what you were made to do."

"And what exactly is that?" I asked mildly, trying to keep him talking as I studied his desk. Noting a promising looking manila folder labelled _"The Guardian Project."_ I silently rolled it up, and slipped it under my hoodie so that it sat between my wings, where no-one would question an odd shape.

"To lead, of course." Jeb said with a smile as he turned, two cups of steaming hot chocolate in his hand, placing one in front of me on the desk, before heading around to the other side and sitting with his own in his hands. "You were created to be a mother and a leader, and I have high hopes that you'll succeed in both."

I ignored the steaming drink in front of me, although my arms ached to reach out and pick it up, and everything here was screaming at me to drink it.

"Don't you want your drink?" He asked, a look of concern plastered on his face. I refused to allow myself to fall for it.

"I'd rather have some answers."

He grinned again. "That's my girl. You're special, you know – you're _the_ bird-kid. Fang was just made as a fall-back, and a test. And the others are there to help you achieve your purpose."

"So what?" I asked. "Everything's a test?" I was just repeating what Jeb had said to me so many times as a child.

"Exactly. Everything's a test, Max, and at the moment? You're on track for an A+."

"Great." I muttered, leaning back in my chair and placing my combat boots on the desk, knowing that it was one of Jeb's pet peeves. "And what if I don't want to take part in these tests anymore? If I don't want to be a pawn in your twisted games?"

Jeb shrugged, his face impassive as he said simply.

"You die."

If I was honest, that was the answer I'd been expecting, but the lack of remorse in his face frustrated me - he thought that he'd already won, and he hadn't.

"You know," I said conversationally. "That new haircut really enhances the _Devil Spawn_ stamp on your forehead. I think it was a good move."

Jeb all just roared in anger, shooting to his feet and cuffing me so hard around the face that blood began to drip down from my cheek.

"Hmm…" I said. "You get an 'F' for that test. Your patience could really do with some work."

Jeb slammed the doors open, and demanded the erasers drag me back to my cage by "Whatever means necessary". I couldn't help but grin a little as he slammed the door behind me; I still had it in me to press the right buttons and tick people off just right, apparently.

Ari was holding my arms behind me as he frog-marched me to my cage, and when we were nearly there, he bent down and whispered in my ear.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping you to shreds, Princess. We'll see who's daddy's favourite then." He said, shoving me forwards and into my crate. I spun and spat in his face in retaliation, making the three other experiments laugh as the door slammed shut behind me.

"Max?" Angel asked suddenly, big blue eyes staring intently in to mine. "Did you really break out of here?"

For a second I thought about saying that a whitecoat had actually broken us out, but when I saw the hope in her eyes I found myself forcing a small smile.

"Yes. Me and Fang did, and he's going to break all of us out soon. I promise."

"Fang?" Mouse asked, "Who's Fang? Was he another experiment?"

"Yeah," I said, frowning. If the other three experiments knew about me, why didn't they know about Fang? "An avian experiment, like us, Angel. How come you've heard of me and not him?"

Angel's frown deepened to a level where it matched my own. "They talk about you all of the time, Max. And they think of you. I'd heard that there was another experiment, but they never called him Fang…"

There was a long pause, as the three small children regarded each other with apparent interest at the new discovery, and I tried to digest this.

"What's he like, Max?" The Gasman said, his beautiful blue eyes probing – I figured that he simply wanted me to keep talking, so smiled and said gently,

"He's big, bigger than me. Stronger, too; he's clever, and funny, and he's always there for me – he'll be there for you too, I promise. He's my best friend."

-}|{-

Fang paced the length of the cave – his muscles tense with anger, fear and sadness. It was the first time that he and Max had been separated, and it was only made worse by the knowledge that she was stuck in The School, where they thought it was funny to operate on people without anaesthesia, and make them run until their legs gave out; just to see how long they could go for.

She was in the hands of some of the sickest people in the world, and Fang was hating it. If _any_ of them had hurt her, he was going to kill them, that he was sure of.

Jeb had said that it was his bird genes that had made him so "fiercely protective" of Max, and that it would probably develop into what he called an "imprint". Fang wasn't sure what that was, but he knew that he'd never been this worried in his whole life.

She'd been there for nearly two days now, and he had no idea how to get her out. _She_ was the clever one – that was why she was leader, not the fact that she'd assumed that she was the oldest (a title that he thought belonged to him, although he'd never voiced this opinion). He was just supposed to encourage her when she was unsure of herself, and to protect her.

That was his job, and it was apparent that he couldn't do hers.

It sucked.

__

"Right, Fang."

He thought to himself, sitting at the mouth of the cave and letting his eyes wander to the hawks there as he thought. "_Think. What would Max do?"_

His eyes lit up as a plan began to formulate, developing on the rough one he and Max had spent less than ten minutes on– which he'd quickly realised wouldn't work with the improvements to The School since Jeb had busted the two of them out.

_"Hang on, Max."_ He thought, as if Max could hear him, "_I'm coming for you, I promise!"_

-}|{-

**I M P O R T A N T _A/N _I M P O R T A N T**

Really not sure about the Fang POV here, and I wanted to put an idea to you. I have the basic idea for the second book,  
_Maximum Ride: Defenition of Normal,  
_set out, but I wanted to ask _you_ a question. As the writer, the next book would be a lot easier to write from Fang's POV rather than Max's due to some fiddly details that I have in there. It'll probably include a little of Max POV, like above, but would mostly be written from Fang. Would that be alright with all of you? Or would you prefer that I kept it with Max, and a little of Fang?

The first would be easier for me, but at the end of the day, this story really is about the readers.

Your opinion counts, so please don't be afraid to let me know.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and that you send a _**R E V I E W**_

Mwah, Nixxie xxx


	12. Rescue

**Chapter Twelve – Rescue**

I was battered, bruised, bloodied and it had only been fifty-two hours since I'd first woken up in The School. Not that I was counting, or anything. It had been three long days without food, three long days of experiments, but Fang was close now – I could _feel_ it, although I wasn't sure how.

Something inside of me was screaming with joy, and I was smiling when I was delivered to my room after collapsing from the maze.

"Max?" The Gasman asked me sombrely, blue eyes tired. "Have you gone crazy?"

"No, Trooper." I laughed, using my nick-name for the young boy. "I'm just happy."

"Oh." That was Mouse, his tail curling and then un-curling behind him.

"You wanna know why?" I asked, leaning forwards so that I could whisper to the three of them without the risk of being overheard. "We're getting out today, that's why."

Mouse and Angel whooped for joy, and The Gasman gave a slightly-evil sounding cackle; their young faces were lit up with smiles I hadn't before seen grace their features, and I was surprised to feel how closely I had bonded with the three of them. They were my responsibility now as far as I was concerned, and I was going to make their lives the best as possible.

Or, in Mouse's case, his last week.

They were going to see the real world, if it was the last thing that I did.

"Princess," A voice from the doorway sneered as the door burst open. "Time for all of the fun that I was telling you about earlier." Ari's grinning face appeared in front of my cage, as Angel's and The Gasman's crates were thrown on a trolley, shortly followed by mine and Mouse's. The four of us had barely any chance of moving, and horror filled me as I realised where we were going.

The training arena.

The place where – at the age of six – I had seen them set nearly fifty blood-crazed erasers on ten or so experiments, watching as they tore them to pieces. That was where we were headed now.

No wonder Ari looked so happy.

_"You need a plan, Max. Think!"_ I ordered myself, trying desperately to tune out the crying of the other three kids as we cleared the doors and found ourselves in the arena.

The opportunity finally arose when Ari's hands wandered a little too close as he passed my cage, and I reached out and gripped them – snapping them easily, and then continuing to add pressure – causing excruciating pain for Ari in his hand. He yowled like the dog that he was, shaking his hand in the hopes that I'd let go.

My cage spun, hitting Angel's. Acting quickly, I had the cage undone and the six-year-old out of her cage in under a minute, ordering her to get into the sky as soon as she could, as Ari's next attempt to free me sent me crashing into both of the boys. Grinning at my luck (kind of, the arena had a net over the top, so that we couldn't get out, but that was irrelevant for now) I freed the two of them, and The Gasman caught Mouse's arm before launching himself into the air to join his sister.

I'd expected that Mouse would be too heavy for him, but he didn't seem to be having any problems – I guess that's bird-kid strength there for you.

The whitecoats were panicking now, jumping wildly with the erasers as if they would magically gain the ability to launch themselves forty feet into the air to catch the feet of the free mutants.

Finally, Ari rounded on me, and my cage was being thrown, spinning wildly, across the floor at the feet of none other than Jeb. A glance at his face was enough to tell me that he was furious, something that even my dizziness didn't conceal.

Hands literally tore the metal front off my cage, and gripped my arms as I was dragged out and presented to the man that I'd once wished to be my father. Oh, how times change.

"Well, Max." Jeb ground out. "Was that worth it? The kids will tire soon enough and have to land, and then all four of you will be terminated. You've sentenced them to death. This was just going to be a simple test, and you've ruined it now. How disappointing."

"Oh, you want to talk about disappointing?" I snapped, feeling anger and hurt well up in my chest once more. "How about the fact that you turned out to be a waste of space for two years? A _traitor_. Now _that's_ disappointing."

I spat in his face, and watched as his face turned redder and redder. Using the chance to study the three mutants in the sky, I frowned at the sight of dark rainclouds; great, that was all we needed to make this situation worse – rain, meaning that the kid's wings would soon be rendered useless, and they'd be dragged back to their cages, their faith in me destroyed.

The shape of the cloud distorted slightly and I squinted at it before grinning slightly.

They weren't clouds.

I had been right.

Fang had come for me, and he'd brought re-enforcements: the hawks from the cave, beady eyes flashing with bloodlust.

I knew I had to get the net open somehow, and distantly remembered spotting a knife attached to Jeb's key chain.

Moving fast, and without warning, I launched myself straight upwards with as much power as I could manage, breaking out of the eraser's hold in an instant, before spinning and taking them out without a seconds hesitation. The others rushed me, but I was too fast – grabbing a hold of Jeb's keys, I held onto to them tightly, opening my wings and jumping into the air.

His belt-loop tore, and his keys broke free as I flew with great speed out of the reach of the erasers – unable to help a small laugh at their faces as I flicked the knife open, and began sawing at the ropes of the net, being carefully to avoid getting my wings caught.

Fang and the hawks were nearly upon us now, and I could feel the weight of his gaze on my back.

Finally, a hole in the net came free, and I ushered the kids out of the way as the first of the hawks swooped through – attacking the whitecoats and erasers with brutal force. Fang landed on the net, balancing carefully as I handed the kids through. He was frowning a little to himself as he lifted them out, but said nothing.

Finally, all three of them were through, and he grabbed my hands, pulling me through as I closed my wings to fit.

"You alright? You nearly gave me heart failure when they carted you off." Fang whispered to me, pulling me in for a brief, but tight, hug – as if he was trying to ensure that I was really there, and it wasn't just a dream.

"I'll live," I smiled at him, before turning to the others. "Guys, this is Fang. Fang, this is Mouse, The Gasman and Angel."

There was a long pause as the two groups regarded each other, and then Angel carefully headed forwards, hugging Fang's legs tightly. Mouse wasn't far behind, and The Gasman soon joined the other two. Fang's bewildered eyes found my own, and I found myself grinning.

"Alright guys, let's blow this joint. And quickly; Mouse, come here sweetheart."

I scooped him up, but Fang shook his head and took him out of my arms, holding him carefully as the young boy's tail wrapped around his arm in fear of being dropped, I guessed.

"I'll take Mouse, you just concentrate in staying in the air, alright?"

I frowned, but nodded, helping the other two into the air before shoving the folder I'd stolen the day before into my backpack and taking off myself.

"So, you're kidnapped by some of the sickest people in the world, taking back to their house of torture and leave having adopted three kids?" Fang asked, coming to sit next to me at the back of the cave. My eyes wandered to the three children, who had curled up close together, sleeping deathly still – just like Fang and I had been trained to do.

"Sounds about right," I laughed, grinning at how ridiculous it sounded. "Look, I know you weren't all for this plan, but I couldn't just leave them there."

"I know." Fang said gentle, his hand squeezing my knee. "It's just going to be harder now that we've got them to think about; three kids is a lot of work, in the long run."

I sighed a little. "It's only going to be two kids, in the long run."

Fang's face was openly confused in a rare display of emotion – his brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Mouse." I whispered, nodding to the small boy, sleeping peacefully. "He's got an expiration date – he's only got another five days to live, the poor kid. It's sick, he's only four, but at least he got out before he died."

Fang's eyes softened as he took in the small boy, and a silence stretched between us. Finally, I plucked up the courage to ask the question that I'd been meaning to ask.

"Did I do the right thing? Busting them out. Busting Mouse out."

Fang hesitated, before nodding. "Yeah. I think you did, Max. They might not have a normal life with us, but at least we can give them a certain degree of safety and freedom – they'd never have had that in The School."

I nodded, and sighed before leaning my head against his shoulder and curling into him slightly. His arm wrapped around me instantly, and I sighed happily.

"I knew you'd come for me." I whispered to him. "Ari said that you'd know better – that you wouldn't do anything as stupid as fly right into the school, but I knew that you would."

Fang nodded slightly. "I'll always come for you, you know that. It's the two of us against the world."

I shook my head. "It's not just the two of us now." I said, indicating towards the kids.

Fang nodded in agreement.

"Max, was that… did I see Jeb back there?"

I frowned.

"Yeah, that was Jeb. He… he was one of them the whole time. He said that we were made for some kind of project, and I managed to steal a folder – it's in my backpack, but we'll have to go over it tomorrow. It's too dark, now."

Fang nodded, before pulling away and grabbing a blanket and nodding to the floor.

"Alright. You get some sleep now, I'll take first watch."

* * *

"Max, watch this!" The Gasman cried, before doing a barrel roll. Fang and I had decided to head East this morning, just to put a bit more distance between ourselves and The School more than anything else, before settling down mid-afternoon to read the files that I had stolen.

We'd also decided to use the time that we were flying to teach Angel and The Gasman some nifty air-tricks, simply because they were fun. Mouse was enjoying the experience like a rollercoaster in Fang's arms, the two of us taking turns to carry him as we spun and flipped.

We had to be careful of how high we went, since Mouse didn't have air sacks like the rest of us, but he seemed fine at the height that we were.

Smiling at The Gasman, and giving him a thumbs up, I opened my mouth to tell him that all he needed to do was tuck his wings in a little tighter on the spin, and found myself unable to speak. For a second, I couldn't figure out why, but I must of made some sort of noise, because Fang's head whipped around to look at me.

That was when the pain hit.

In all my life, I'd never felt anything like it. It was as if someone had a thousand knives, and was stabbing them repeatedly in and out of my head; my wings crumpled and light seemed to be flashing behind my eyes, a high-pitched keening sound making my ears ring as I fell, faster and faster.

_"Please let me hit the floor soon."_ I begged mentally. _"Please let me die, soon. I just want it to stop, stop STOP!"_

Right as I myself get wet as I fell through the clouds, arms wrapped around me, ropy and strong. Fang. For a second all motion stopped, and it was like the two of us were just hanging in mid-air. Fang carrying me, whimpering and crying with my eyes squeezed shut and my arms wrapped around my head to stop it falling apart.

A few moments later I felt myself moving upwards again; I don't know how long we stayed like that before the pain began to dim. The kids were asking questions, but Fang told them to be quiet, obviously feeling me flinch against him when anyone spoke. For a while, it was all I could do to bury my face into his shirt to hide the tears from the kids.

Finally, I removed my arms from around my head hesitantly, half expecting pieces of my skull to fall away as I did so; nothing fell off, and I blinked my eyes open – having to squint just to make out the blurry shape of Fang as he adjusted his arms underneath me so that the arm on my back was underneath my wings and not pressing them painfully into my back.

"Max?" He whispered, his voice scared, and then collecting himself. "What the hell have you been eating, rocks?"

"Why, is your head missing some?" I snapped. Well, more like croaked. "Can you land, please?"

Fang nodded, hesitantly, and instructed the others to look for a clearing in the woods beneath us.

After a long while, little Mouse spotted one that Fang deemed large enough, and I forced myself to sit a little more upright in Fang's arms – wiping the tears from my face. My head was thumping dully, but it was nothing like what I had just gone through, so I put on my brave face.

Fang landed carefully, as if jogging me would reduce me to the agonising state I'd just undergone all over again. I really hoped that wasn't the case, and instructed Fang to put me down; he studied me carefully for a long moment before lowering my legs to the floor, his other arm still around my waist.

I was thankful for it when I realised how badly my legs were shaking, but was finally able to stand on my own, other than the occasional wobble.

Regarding me carefully for a long moment, Fang took a few more steps back, and determined to prove that I was fine I threw my backpack at him.

"Come on, let's set up camp."

Fang nodded, and the two of us set about getting a fire up and running, and feeding the kids. Finally, I settled the kids down and taught them how to play Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt so that they had something to do whilst Fang and I sat on the other side of the camp and started reading the file.

"Hey," I said quietly. "I've got something; it says that the Master Files for the Guardian Project are in a place that they've called "The Institute of HL." In New York, New York."

"Looks like we're going to New York." Fang grinned, and I nodded, smiling back at him. There was a long pause, and Fang refused to meet my eyes as he said. "You scared me back there, I thought I'd lost you… again."

"I'm sorry." I muttered, scuffing my shoes in the dirt. "I'm alright now, though."

Fang nodded, ending the conversation. The two of us had never been good with the whole emotional thing, choosing the simply ignore things like that.

"Max?" Angel whispered from next to me a while later, startling the two of us as she took a hold of my arm, her blue eyes peering into my own. "I have a secret. The white coats said not to tell anyone, but you're like my Mommy, and it's bad to keep secrets from your Mommy."

"What is it?" I asked, exchanging a concerned glance with Fang as I pulled her into my lap and she cuddled into me.

"I hear things… things that people are thinking."

_"Like mind reading? A mind-reading six-year-old?"_ I thought to myself, studying the small child.

"Yeah. Like mind-reading." She giggled.

"Okay." I said, trying my very best to act like it was nothing unusual.

Damn. My life was crazy.

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, so probably not my best chapter. The next few are all a bit iffy, if you ask me, but that's probably because I'm just _itching_ to get on with the second one already. Remember, it's going to be called, _Maximum Ride: Definition of Normal, _so keep your eyes peeled. I was also thinking of doing some companion one-shots to go with the series, but that's still just a baby idea.

Okay, so, I've got a _very_ important vote for you this chapter:

**Iggy. Blind, or not?**

_It's up to you!_

So... _**R E V I E W!**_


	13. New York, New York

**Chapter Thirteen – New York, New York**

"Rise and shine guys." I said, loudly enough that the four other mutants in the clearing bolted upright. Mouse wasn't looking particularly well-rested, but considering that he'd slept like a baby all night, I put it down to his expiration date. The poor kid, my mental tally showed that he only had three days left; two, if you didn't count D-day.

"What's for breakfast?" Fang asked, pulling his hoodie on.

"Popcorn." I said with a shrug, "I figure it has to be kind of nutritional. It has "_corn_" in the name, right?"

Fang grinned. "I like your reasoning; and since chocolate is made from the cocoa _bean_, that's healthy, right?" He asked, pulling a handful of chocolate bars out of his bag.

I surprised the both of us by hugging him tightly before ushering the kids over, and taking little time to introduce them to the man-made wonders that made up our breakfast; completed by a slightly flat, two-litre bottle of Cola to share.

Ah, how I loved life on the run.

"Right, kids." I said, smiling at the three of them. "We're heading for New York today – it's gonna be a bit of a long flight, but we'll stop for lunch, alright?"

The kids nodded and began asking questions about things they might not see. It was strange when I realised that, like Fang and I four years ago, these three children had never seen anything outside of The School. This was all new to them, but at least they were adapting well.

Breakfast was almost rushed in the kid's excitement to see "the wonderful world", but we ensured that there was no evidence of our stay there before packing up and heading out.

It took us a while to get everyone sorted. Mouse kept complaining that he wanted The Gasman to carry him for a bit, and we finally relented and said that The Gasman could take him for a little while, and then Fang and I would carry him the rest of the way. Of course, that did make it harder for the eight-year-old to get in the air, and Fang and I ended up literally throwing him into the sky.

It was unconventional, but the same could be said for the rest of our lives.

Little Angel was next, and she seemed to find it easier to get in the air than the day before, proving that something that Fang and I had taught her had sunk in, at least. Grinning a little at each other, Fang and I launched ourselves upwards in unison.

I was nearly twenty feet up when the same pain as yesterday had my wings closing and my body falling back to the ground. I pulled my wings in to the best of my ability, to protect them, but I could barely comprehend what I was doing for the blinding, searing pain.

Images filled my head; names, numbers, floor plans, ventilation systems, buildings, cars... The keening noise was back, as were the tears that I could dimly feel on my face.

For a second I felt peaceful, and then I hit the floor.

Somehow managing the uncurl myself and roll onto all fours in the bushes just in time, I found myself being violently sick into the underbrush.

I still couldn't open my eyes, but I felt Fang's gentle hands holding my hair back and checking for a temperature.

Finally, done being sick, I rolled onto my back and lay there gasping for breath for a while, eyes still closed.

"Max? You should drink something." Fang whispered, and I blinked my eyes open to see him leaning over me with the last bottle of water in his hand. I gratefully accepted his help to sit up, and then took a long drink from the bottle.

The others were silent, watching me with varying levels of concern in their eyes.

"Maybe we should wait a while…" Fang said unsurely, studying me even as he was helping me to my feet; as if expecting me to keel over at any second.

"I'm fine." I said, despite the fact that like yesterday there was still a dull thumping headache remaining. "It's probably just a bug or something."

Yeah.

A bug that caused brain cancer; caused my skull to practically fall apart in my hands.

Nice.

"I don't know, Max. That's twice in two days. Maybe you should just rest for a while; we could get the camp set up again and hunker down for a couple of days."

"Right." I snapped, hand pressed against my forehead. "And what are we going to do when the erasers find us? Tell them that they can't tear us to shreds, because we're "hunkering down for a few days"? It's not safe."

Fang sighed, but nodded. "You're right." He agreed reluctantly.

"Alright." I said, turning to the kids, who were watching the two of us unsurely. "Gassy, you've got Mouse securely? Alright then, up you go. Angel, you next. Fang,"

The dark mutant shook his head. "You first, just in case."

I was tempted to argue, but quickly realised that arguing would only waste more time than was necessary and nodded, and painfully unfolded my wings. I'd landed on my left one (the one with the bullet wound) when I'd landed, and could feel a trickle of blood making its way down my back and shoulder.

It didn't stop me.

Bracing myself for another fall, I threw myself into the air – pleasantly surprised when I did fall straight away. I completed a few circles in the air around a still earth-bound Fang before whistling for him to come up, content that I wasn't going to fall.

Or, at least, not straight away.

"All good?" Fang asked, as he and I levelled out. I nodded, not willing to admit that my head was still pounding. "I'll get you some pain killers out when we stop for lunch." He continued, as if I had already told him about the headache. The two of us had always been like that; the closest thing I'd ever known to mind readers… with the exception of Angel.

Her powers had been the topic of discussion long into the night after she'd revealed them, and Fang and I had both decided to try not to let any thoughts wander to where they might be picked up by a six-year-old, although (admittedly) neither of us were all too sure how it worked.

"You contemplating life?" Fang nudged. "You've been staring into the same patch of air for nearly half an hour now."

"Nah, just thinking." I said, allowing him a small smile, and noting that he'd taken Mouse from The Gasman – the small boy was curled into him, sleeping peacefully. I smiled a little at the sight. "They're sweet kids, huh?"

Fang nodded, his eyes wandering to where The Gasman and Angel were playing together – zipping around each other and laughing and shouting. They looked happy, and it was the first time since I'd met them that I could really say that.

"They don't deserve what happened to them." I whispered, glancing at Fang out of the corner of my eye before watching the two kids again.

"None of us did," Fang reasoned. "It's not our fault there's some serious whack jobs in this world."

I laughed a little at that, before sighing. "Still, if we hadn't have been experimented on we'd never have met each other. Do you sometimes think that you'd trade it? Everything you went through at The School, for a normal life, with a family and friends and a normal school?"

"Rarely." Fang said, after a long pause, grinning a little. "Truth is, I wouldn't be me without you."

* * *

"Here – we can land in that alley back there." I shouted over the rush of the winds, which were picking up speed at an alarming rate. We'd flown for a long time, and it was beginning to get dark. That only made the sight below us even more beautiful; lights illuminated the streets, from cars and signs and buildings. It was breathtaking, and also made it easier to find a place to land. The darkest place that there was before us always seemed like a good bet.

I descended first, since Angel and The Gasman still needed steadying when they touched down, and Fang and I ensured that the kids had their wings tucked in before we did anything else.

Finally content that we looked acceptably human (having managed to retrieve a baseball cap small enough for Mouse when we'd stopped for lunch, covering his ears nicely, and having told him to keep his tail hidden up his shirt) we headed out.

Angel was gripping my hand on one side, Mouse scooped up in my other arm, having quickly gotten upset at the crowd; Fang had The Gasman's hand gripped tightly in his own, the two of them walking behind us, Fang ensuring that we weren't split up by sheer force as he shoved his way through the crowd.

Finally, the entrance to a fast food restaurant came up, and we headed in without looking back, Angel sticking close to my side even when I had to let go of her hand to open the door, clearly unsure of the crowd inside.

"Why don't you take the kids and get a table?" Fang asked, "I'll go order."

I nodded, herding the kids out of the worst of the crowd and managing to snag a corner table between two windowed walls with enough room for all of us, and getting the kids settled.

"There's so many people." Angel said in awe, watching the crowd with rapid interest. I laughed a little.

"That's 'cause everyone's hungry." I laughed, nudging her a little. She giggled, and the two boys followed her quickly. The Gasman quickly started a conversation with the two of them; and I found myself studying Mouse. He was clearly getting sicker and sicker.

His face was pale, a thin sheen of sweat covering his face, and he was bundled up in his jumper despite the flush across his cheeks.

As if sensing me watching him, he gave me a small smile and curled up into my side.

A woman at the table across from me was watching us with a frown on her face, and nudged her husband, nodding at us. He frowned, too, and the two of them watched as Fang came back with the food, handing out the large portions before sliding into the booth next to me. I dug in, but kept my eye on the couple.

"What's up?" Fang asked, and I nodded to the couple, my keen hearing picking up the tail end of their conversation; something about "disgusting", "teen pregnancy" and "those poor children". I frowned for a moment, before blushing, realising that she thought that the kids were mine and Fang's.

If Fang blushed, ever, he'd have been right along there beside me.

"How embarrassing." I muttered, but continued to eat as if I hadn't heard what she'd said, Fang shrugged his shoulders, squeezing my knee gently under the table. A few moments later, the woman and her husband walked past, and she took great care to crash into our table.

"Hey!" I protested, catching Angel's milkshake before it spilt over her new shirt. "That was uncalled for."

"Uh-huh." The woman said snottily, turning to walk away; Fang caught her wrist.

"I do believe you owe us an apology." He said evenly, much to the amusement of the family of four that had squeezed into the couple's now occupied table.

"That would be the least she could do." The father agreed. "The poor kid nearly lost her milkshake."

The woman frowned, sighing deeply before forcing out. "I'm sorry."

Fang flashed her an award-winning smile, letting go of her arm and sitting back in his seat to throw his arm around my shoulders. "That's okay. I'd take a little more care next time – clearly the gap wasn't as big as you thought it was."

There was a long pause, as she turned and walked away, blushing behind the ears when Fang muttered after her, "Or maybe your butt just wasn't as _small_ as you thought it was."

I almost choked on my sprite, and the kids, myself and the family opposite us all quickly dissolved into laughter.

"I can't take you anywhere." I laughed, shaking my head at Fang.

Part of me was taking the time to notice that he hadn't moved his arm from around my shoulders; he was always doing things like that, but I'd always written it off before. Now, having seen the lady's reaction to it, I found myself what Fang and I really were. I'd always assumed that we were just best friends, but the people around us certainly seemed to think that we were more.

_"Whatever."_ I thought to myself. _"Since when do you care what people think of you anyway, Max?"_


	14. Could be Us

**Chapter Fourteen– Could be us.**

"I want to do something fun for Mouse today." I told Fang as the two of us sat around in the branches of a tree, the kids still fast asleep opposite us. "Tomorrow's D-day, so I want to do something special for him."

"We could go to a restaurant or something, let him order whatever he wants." Fang said.

I nodded. "I still think he deserves a little something more; I just don't know what."

"Why don't we wake the kids up, and we'll go for a wander, see if we find anything." Fang asked, and I found myself nodding.

"Alright then; you start taking camp down, and I'll get the kids up and ready."

Fang nodded, and I pulled myself to my feet before heading over to Angel, and gently shaking her awake, her blue eyes; after her it was little Mouse, who seemed a little more than reluctant to wake up, and then The Gasman. The three of them pulled themselves to their feet, complaining that they were hungry.

"Breakfast on the go." I announced, pointing across the square to a stall selling roasted peanuts. The kids cheered, obviously happy at the prospect of food, and I grinned a little to myself; in a way, it was sad that it took so little to make them happy, but it also made my job a little easier than if I was looking after three spoilt brats that wanted everything and gave nothing.

Though, if they'd been like that, I might of just killed them myself.

It took only a few moments to pack our stuff out and extract ourselves from the close-set branches of the large tree and reach the floor; I just had to settle for being grateful that there was no-one was around to witness our rather magnificent efficiency at leaping from branch to branch without so much as wobbling.

Must be a bird thing.

"What are we going to do today?" Mouse asked gently, holding my hand as we headed towards the vendor.

"It's completely up to you, little man." I smiled at him. "Today's your day."

"Really?" Mouse grinned, his eyes filling with excitement as I nodded.

"Really. Now, let's get some breakfast."

"This place is so big." Mouse commented as I held him on my hip. He'd been complaining about aches in his legs since we'd finished breakfast, so I'd resolved the issue by carrying him. The Gasman held my other hand, Angel holding Fang's.

"You're not joking." I commented as the street that we were walking along ended, splitting into four different directions. "I don't know how people get around. Which way?"

Mouse nodded left, so that was the way that we went. Mouse was clearly enjoying himself just seeing the sights, but something didn't feel right to me; I was glancing around nervously when I first saw them.

Two model-type men, walkie-talkies strapped to their belts, their eyes trained on us.

"Erasers." I hissed to Fang before breaking into a run, dragging The Gasman along with me as he struggled to keep up. Fang appeared next to me, Angel crying in his arms; he risked a glance behind us.

"Four of them." He reported.

"Eight." Angel corrected, peering over Fang's shoulder.

I glanced wildly around, we needed to either lose them, or find somewhere to take off; they were gaining on us much too quickly for my liking.

"There!" The Gasman said, pulling me into the midst of a large group of kids that were being herded into Central Park Zoo. Realising that his plan might work, I set Mouse a little lower down on my hip and ushered The Gasman into the middle of the crowd, Fang and Angel close at my back. I just had to pray that we got let in.

"Pass, pass, pass…" The guard at the entrance said, waving at us without looking at us, and then. "Excuse me, you can't go in there."

Fang and I froze, thinking that he was talking to us, and I was relieved to see when I turned that he was talking to an eraser that had been trying to sneak up on us.

"School day only. You need a pass."

The eraser snapped something at him, but retreated to stand with the others - nine of them, now, watching us go with fire in his eyes. I couldn't resist flipping him the bird as we slipped inside safely.

"What now?" Fang asked as we glanced around.

"Can we have a look around?" Mouse asked, tugging on my hair. "I've never been to a zoo before."

The look in his eyes had me nodding, despite the fact that I knew enough about zoos that I knew I was going to hate it. He wriggled in my arms, and I settled him down as he bounced over to look at a polar bear. The enclosure was large, containing a big bear and a little one, so I had to give the zookeepers their props there; unfortunately, in my life, cages had become a symbol of everything bad and I found myself shuddering.

Fang pulled me into his side a little as the two of us followed the three kids, rubbing my shoulder gently.

"Want to split?" He asked, noting the way that I was shivering.

"I promised Mouse that he could do whatever he wanted." I reasoned, trying to keep the memories at bay as Mouse led us to yet another cage; this one roofed due to the tropical birds inside. The image of wings batting at bars was almost enough to send me over the edge, and I had to fight back a wave of nausea. "It's just… this could be _us_. We could be on display, like these poor animals…"

"Guys," Fang called.

"Fang, don't!" I hissed, shaking my head furiously despite the fact that it was feeling strangely light.

"You look like you're about to pass out!" He hissed back, and then. "I have it all under control, trust me."

The kids wandered over, stopping for a few moments to watch a male lion as it yawned, exposing its sharp teeth.

"It's almost dinnertime." Fang told them gently, which I was surprised to find was nothing short of the truth. "So we're going to head out and find a restaurant. Mouse's pick, alright?"

The kids nodded fiercely, excited despite the fact that it meant leaving the zoo behind, and I felt myself almost sighing with relief. The five of us headed out, my shaking lessening a little as we left the zoo in our wake and erasers didn't pounce on us the second that we stepped out of the confines of the monstrosity of a tourist attraction.

Fang gripped my hand tightly as the two of us pushed through the crowd, Mouse once again on my hip, and The Gasman holding onto my jacket tightly. Fang had been forced to scoop Angel up again, and the young girl was dozing lightly on his shoulder; her face was serene, reminding me that although it was sometimes easy to forget with her level of maturity, she was only six years old.

"How about this one?" Mouse asked, nodding to a large, expensive looking restaurant.

"Are you sure?" I asked, hoping that he'd see something else; instead, he nodded and I sighed, knowing that we were going to stick out in our ratty clothes, but knowing that I couldn't turn him down.

Fang exchanged a pained glance from me, and woke Angel up as he led the way, and the five of us slipped into a vacant table. I could feel the stares from the other patrons on my back, and quickly wiped the dirt off the kids faces with the sleeve of my jacket, trying unsuccessfully to make them look a little less out of place.

Mouse was glancing around earnestly, and tugged on my sleeve happily when the waiter headed over.

"Are you waiting for your parents?" He asked, his condescending tone making my hands clench under the table. Fang's hand unclenched my right one under the table, and he slipped his own into it, lacing our fingers together.

"No." He said calmly. "They're on a business trip, but they gave us the money to eat here as a birthday present for Matthew." He nodded at Mouse, who looked a little bewildered at his sudden change of name, but thankfully remained silent.

"Alright then. Are you ready to order?"

I nodded, and the five of us reeled off our extortionately large order. The waiter (who's name tag read Jason)'s eyes were so high up his head by the time that we were finished that I began to wonder if they were going to just disappear beneath his hair, or perhaps fall off all together.

"This is a lot of food." He said, re-reading the list to himself. "Are you sure that you're going to eat it all? That you're not just being a little greedy? That you can _pay_ for it?"

"We haven't eaten all day." I said between clenched teeth. "And _yes_, we _can_ pay for it."

The waiter nodded, but he was shaking his head as he headed into the kitchen. I glanced at Fang, flexing my fingers in his – silently asking him what was going on even as he released them.

"I thought you were going to deck the poor guy." He said, grinning a little.

"Hardly," I laughed. "I just hate being treated like I'm five."

I glanced around, taking in possible escape routes as we waited for our food, and the kids and Fang began to snack on the bread rolls in the middle of the table. Another waiter headed over with our drinks, but even he was frowning at us as he delivered ten glasses to our table of five.

I was just taking a long drink of my cola when the first waiter returned with a second man next to him, wearing a name tag that read: "John Carey: Manager."

Great.

"Can I help you?" I asked, forced sweetness in my voice.

"Yes, actually. I wanted to talk to you about the extortionate order that you and your… family placed."

"Is there a problem with it? Did the kitchen run out of something?"

"Not quite. It's just that we'd rather not be wasteful with food, and you've ordered an extraordinary amount of food for five kids."

"We're _hungry_." I sighed, Fang taking both of my hands in one of his own under the table. "Look, we have the money. It seems to me that we should just order our food, eat it, pay for it and leave. Wouldn't that be best for everyone?"

"It's alright, Max." Little Mouse frowned, leaning forward. "We can go to a different restaurant."

"The child's right, _Max._ I think you'd be more comfortable in a different restaurant."

"Jason thinks that you're full of hot air and that you're really a sissy." Angel said interrupted sweetly, frowning as the manager turned more and more red in the face. "Max, what's a bimbo?"

Fang choked on his drink, that he'd been trying to casually slip and tried desperately not to laugh at poor Jason's predicament. Obviously, Mr John Carey wasn't going to believe that we had a six-year-old telepath, so he was pretty much up the creek without a paddle.

"We're fine here," Fang said, clearly enjoying the way that the manger's face darkened. "We'll even forget that this discussion ever took place if you just bring us our food."

I realised that this wasn't about the food anymore for Fang, just about winding the manager up. I couldn't really blame him; I allowed a small grin to split over my face, and then police officers burst through the two doors, and the kitchen.

I swore loudly, attracting even more attention to our table, before pulling Mouse out of his seat and into my arms. Angel and The Gasman were on their feet in a heartbeat, eyes wide and panic-stricken. I was in a state of disbelief; we'd just wanted a nice, peaceful meal, and instead we'd been stuck without someone calling the _police_ on us.

We had _such_ bad luck.

"They've got all the doors covered." Fang muttered, and I found myself a little surprised when he slid his jacket off and took Mouse from me so I could take mine off, too, scooping my backpack up from the floor and sliding it in, along with Fang's as I passed him his black backpack. The police officer at the front, who I was slightly happy to see was female (there wasn't nearly enough high-position women in the world) was saying something, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"Only other options the skylight." Fang continued as the kids hurriedly pulled their own jackets off and passed them to me to shove into my backpack. The Gasman and Angel both leant in opposite directions, grabbing two un-touched bread baskets.

"Come forwards slowly." The police officer yelled, and I found myself grinning.

"Up and away guys." I said calmly. For a second, no-one moved, and then Fang was launching straight up from the floor, whipping his wings out and flying straight out; the kids were right behind him, as I brought up the rear, quickly overtaking them to crash through the skylight.

In less than a minute, we were home free.

"Well," I said pleasantly. "Wasn't that fun, kids?"

* * *

"I don't want to walk back to the park, Max. My legs hurt." Mouse said, tugging my hand as the five of us headed through the emptier than ever streets.

"Alright," I sighed, rubbing my head where a headache was beginning to form. "Why don't we catch the subway there, that'll be faster, and it's not far from here. Alright?"

Fang nodded, and I switched directions easily, spotting the entrance to the subway.

It was empty when we reached the ground floor, so we simply hopped over the barriers and walked down the stairs to the first platform that we came across. There was still no-one in sight other than a man at the far end of the platform, who kind of looked like he was sleeping.

"Is it closed, Max?" Angel asked earnestly, coming up on my other side, tugging on my jeans a little.

"I don't know." I muttered, turning to Fang. "The subway closes?"

He simply shrugged, and I sighed, rubbing my temples. An arm wrapped itself around my middle and Fang pulled me into his side, rubbing my back as I found myself tucking my head under his chin despite myself. Angel, The Gasman and Mouse gathered around our legs and I found myself blinking back tears of frustration; I'd let Mouse down.

I'd just wanted to make his last day great, and instead I'd had us chased by erasers and then ambushed by the police.

_"Way to go, Max."_ I thought to myself bitterly.

"Max, did you hear that?" Mouse asked, the cap shifting on his head as his ears moved. "There's voices, from inside the tunnel. What are they doing there?"

"I don't know." I frowned, pulling myself together, and away from Fang, glancing at him. "You think it's worth checking out?"

"Can't do any harm," Fang shrugged, and I nodded, relieved to have a plan again. There was something reassuring about it.

I surged forward eagerly, dropping carefully onto the tracks below me and regarding the "Beware of the third rail" sign with discomfort as Fang lowered the kids down, dropping them into my arms one-by-one. They seemed to be finding the whole thing amusing, like some kind of game, and the three of them were giggling when Fang dropped down.

I grinned at him, before leading the way into the tunnels.

"Fang?" I heard The Gasman ask. "What do they mean by 'Beware of the third rail'?"

"They mean that there's seven hundred volts running through it." Fang tried to explain from the back of the group.

"What does that mean?"

Fang sighed, and I found myself stifling a giggle. "Touch it, and you're human popcorn." He replied eventually.

"Oh."

No-one said anything after that, the kids' attention too absorbed by actively avoiding the third rail; finally, the tunnel opened out and the sight before me almost took my breath away. Along one side was what appeared to be an abandoned platform, raised from the floor; along the far wall were high, concrete shelves, people sitting and lying on them. Others were spread across the platform itself, some crouching over fires in metal trash cans, some talking quietly.

"Wow," I muttered. "It's a city beneath a city."

All eyes were suddenly on a woman by the edge of the platform, closer to us than any of the others, and she made a strange hand movement that I assumed meant that we were safe, since everyone went back to what they'd been doing without another word.

"What do you say that we just stay here?" I asked Fang, and he shrugged. It wasn't as cosy as the park that we'd spent the night in before, but at least with our messy hair and bedraggled clothing we finally fit in somewhere. "Alright." I sighed, heading forwards.

Fang overtook me at the last moment, hauling himself up onto the platform without so much as a grunt, shaking my head good naturedly at him, I passed the kids up one-by-one, and they headed off to grab a section of the long shelf that wasn't being used. Fang held his hands out for me, and I frowned for a moment, unsure whether he'd be able to pull me up, before taking them.

My weight didn't seem to bother him, and he pulled me up without a sound; just before the sounds of a train sounded its approach, and it roared past. Apparently I'd been right in thinking that the Subway _didn't_ close.

The two of us headed over to where the kids were, and I got the three of them settled on the concrete, using jackets as pillows and blankets. Finally, they dozed off, leaving just Fang and I.

I should have been dreading going to sleep, or, rather, what tomorrow would bring, but my head was thudding painfully and my eyes kept drifting shut.

"Sleep, Max." Fang said gently. "I've got first watch."

I nodded carefully, curling up, using my hands as a pillow. Fang sighed, shifting me so that my head was in his lap – which was a lot more comfortable than my hands - and I muttered a thanks as I began to doze off, the feeling of Fang's hands running through my hair lulling me to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, over 100 reviews and only twelve chapters reviewed! I'm _so_ blown away, honestly :) So, a double update for my awesome reviewers, and because starting college is making me sloooow. Sorry about that!

Alright, so, this review, tell me about... **your most embarassing typo/speaking mistake!**

Mine: Having an MSN conversation with my two best friends, Rozzee and Sam and it goes like this:

_**Me**_: So, Rozz, what you doing?

_**Rozz**:_ Nothing, you?

And here, it was _supposed _to read,

_**Me**_: Same.

But _atually_ read...

_**Me**_: Sam.

Can you say embarassing?


	15. Expiration

Chapter Fifteen– Expiration

The now nick-named Brain Attack happened again whilst I was sleeping.

One second I was dreaming of living in a quaint little house with Mouse, Angel and The Gasman as my brothers and sister, and Fang as (strangely) my _boyfriend_, and then next I was curling tighter in on myself, my hands flying up to clutch my head.

"Max?" Fang asked, startled. "Is it another headache?"

I couldn't nod, couldn't open my eyes to see him – it was hard enough just to breathe. The pain overrode everything; the sounds, sights and smells of the subway, and the feel of the concrete below me. The only thing that was constant was Fang's reassuring hand between my wings, rubbing soothing circles on the skin that lay there.

The pain intensified; images, sights and sounds assaulting my ears and closed eyes – playing across the back of my eyelids like a movie screen. None of it seemed related to anything, just an unorganised jumble of _rubbish_. I barely heard myself whimper, tears falling down the face I couldn't feel.

My breath was coming through as jagged hisses, catching on suppressed sobs in my throat.

"_Please,_" I begged mentally. _"Please let me die soon. Make it stop. Make it stop…"_

After a long while, although I wasn't sure how long, the pain began to lessen, become a little more bearable. I found myself crying harder. It was ending, nearly over; it could happen again.

"Who the hell is screwing with my Mac?" A new, unfamiliar, voice snapped. Images were still flying through my head at an alarming rate. "You've crashed my whole system! Idiots."

Fang shifted underneath me angrily, and I wished that the pain would disappear so that I could pull myself together and show this guy who the _real_ idiot was.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Fang sneered, icicles practically dripping off his words. No-one compared to Fang when he was angry; the _look_ that he gave people was usually warning enough for most people to back off. Apparently, this guy was the rare exception.

"Someone's messing with my motherboard. I tracked the interference and it's coming from _you_, so cut it out!" He snapped, and I finally managed to blink my eyes open. The light burnt them, and they closed again; slowly, I tried to calm my shuddering breaths.

"What's wrong with her? She trippin'?" He asked, as I painstakingly pulled myself together.

"She's fine." Fang snapped. "And we're not doing anything to your freaking computer, so why don't you do us both a favour and get lost?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you quit messing with my system, kid." He hesitated. "Why don't you get your girlfriend to a hospital?"

I was so busy trying to sort myself out that the comment went straight over my head, but Fang stiffened beneath me, his hand moving from my back to over my side – protectively.

Finally, I was able to open my eyes and sit up a little, leaning against Fang (who kept his arm firmly around me) and hating my weakness.

"Who _are_ you?" I snapped, hating the weakness in my voice. Fang was tracing soothing circles on my hip, and despite the pain that the light was causing, I was able to make out hazy impression of a guy around my age. He had a laptop type thing – which I assumed to be his "Mac" – strung around his neck by a strange assortment of straps.

He was fairly tall, with square rimmed glasses and dirty, faded army fatigues. "None of your business." He snapped right back. "Just quit screwing with my motherboard – it's not funny anymore."

"Seriously," Fang said evenly, his voice holding an edge of steel despite his gentle movements on my side. "_What_ are you talking about?"

"_This!"_ The Mac-boy cried, spinning the screen around so we could see the images as words flashing across the screen. My blood went cold and my world spun for moment; the images that were on the screen were the same ones that had been flashing through my head during the Brain Attack. I moved backwards a little, my eyes flying back to the guys face after a long moment.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?"

The kid frowned. "What do _I_ want with _you?_ _You're_ the ones messing with _my_ computer!"

In the next moment the screen turned completely blank and the kid's face turned briefly dismayed, before words – in a neon green script – appeared across the screen, at the same time that a strange voice said them aloud.

_"Hello, Max."_ Fang's eyes flickered to me uncertainly, his grip on my hip tightening painfully as my eyes met his own for a long, terrified moment. Moving as if one, our heads turned back to the screen as the words cleared, only to be replaced with four more. "_Welcome to New York."_

The strange voice sounded again, and I gripped the arm that Fang didn't have wrapped around me.

_"I knew you'd come, Max. I have big plans for you."_ The voice continued in my head, the words not appearing on the screen as it went blank again; I hoped that was the end of it.

"Did you hear that?" I hissed to him, quiet enough that Mac-boy (who was playing with his beloved computer) wouldn't hear me.

"Hear what?" Fang frowned.

"That voice."

The pain was getting better now, and I was wasn't feeling sick – which I was grateful for. I could also see the screen clearly now, as I rubbed my temples.

"What's the deal? Who's Max?" Mac-kid growled. "And what do I have to do to make you stop whatever you're doing?"

"We're not doing _anything_." Fang snapped, clearly having had enough. The pain sharpened again and I winced into Fang's side, barely managing to keep my eyes clear enough to watch as images appeared on the screen again. Floor plans, ventilation plans, building outlines, all remaining on the screen for a matter of seconds before being replaced.

My eyes caught five words suddenly, _"The Institute for Higher Living."_

My head whipped around to face Fang, and he nodded slightly, eyes still on the screen. The screen went blank once more, and then the computer re-booted itself, and the Mac-kid sighed in relief, his eyes still focused on us.

"You really weren't doing anything?" He asked, and I shook my head absently. He muttered something, clearly irritated, and turned and left without another word.

I sank back against Fang, feeling my eyes close. Fang kept one arm around me, rifling through his backpack with his other arm before nudging me; I could almost feel the concern radiating off him.

"Here," He said, holding out a couple of Aspirin and a bottle of water.

"My hero." I muttered, swallowing the pills with a long drink of water before snuggling myself back into Fang's side. He wordlessly kissed my head, and the two of us sat in silence for a long while, until my headache was nothing but a memory.

"Max?" Fang said gently, but suddenly – his voice lacking emotion, but hesitant and careful.

"Wha's wrong?" I asked blearily, blinking my eyes open. Fang nodded to Mouse, and my heart was suddenly in my throat, tears filling my eyes.

"Oh, no." I whispered.

From where I'd been, Mouse just looked like he was sleeping, but now that I looked closer he wasn't breathing, and his skin was cold to the touch when I stood and knelt next to him. I pressed my hand to my mouth to try to keep from waking the other kids as sobs built up in my throat.

Fang knelt next to me, wrapping his arms around me and pressing my head into his chest, rocking me gently.

"At least he went peacefully." Fang whispered into my hair. "In his sleep."

I nodded into his chest, trying to pull myself together. Fang's head turned and he seemed to be nodding his head at something. I opened my eyes to see two guys heading over, muttering something about "another dead'n." Fang nodded at them again, and one of them scooped up Mouse's body, carrying him to a blacked out part of the tunnel.

Part of me wanted to tell them to stop; that they couldn't just dump his body like that. The more reasonable part told me that there was nothing that I could do – Mouse was dead either way, at least this way meant that Angel and The Gasman didn't have to see his unmoving body.

* * *

"What are we doing today, Max?" The Gasman asked bravely, his eyes still red and puffy from crying. I smiled gratefully at him, holding Angel a little closer in my arms.

"We're going to the Library. I want to find out more on The Institute; who runs it, what they do."

"You expect to find that in the Library?" Fang asked, raising his eyebrow as if to question my sanity. If the situation had been any less sad, I'd have laughed as I shook my head.

"No. I was more thinking location; if they're conducting illegal experiments they're not going to be so forthcoming about it, are they? But they're still a corporation or a company, or _something_, which means that they have to _exist_, right? How else would they get the funding and the ability to buy the degree of scientific equipment that they'd need? I'm sure they're not just throwing it away,"

"Right," Fang nodded. "That's actually a good plan."

"Thanks." I muttered with a slight shake of my head as I scooped Angel off my lap on the floor of the platform, and handed her to Fang, who was already standing, The Gasman bravely wiping his tears away as he reached for Fang's other hand. He really was a little trooper, that kid. _My_ little trooper, now.

I grabbed my backpack and slid it on before taking Angel, who seemed to be calming down a little, back off Fang to allow him to slip the straps of his backpack on. When we reached the edge of the platform, I set Angel down, and listened carefully for any sounds of a train before dropping down onto the tracks.

Only moments later we were sneakily climbing back onto the main platform, instantly blending in with the crowds of others that were heading out of the large station. If anyone had seen us come off the tracks, no-one said anything, and I was grateful.

"Alright," I sighed. "Now to find a Library."

The others nodded, The Gasman gripping Fang's hand for security as Angel gripped mine.

For a while we wandered aimlessly, grabbing food from various vendors as we went, and keeping a constant eye out for erasers. Just 'cause I pretty much thought that the day couldn't get any worse, didn't mean the erasers couldn't _make_ it worse; either by taking us back to the School (again) or by killing another one of us.

That would probably be the definition of "worse".

"Max," Fang groaned eventually, laying his hand on my shoulder. "Look, the kids are tired and we haven't come across a library yet. Maybe it's time to give up until later."

I was about to agree, noting that the kids' legs weren't the only one's aching, mine were too, when a large Roman-looking building caught my eye. My raptor's vision picked out the engraving on the stone front of the building, "NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY."

"No need." I grinned at Fang, nodding to the building, for a moment he just frowned at it, and then he looked at me and shook his head, as if to say _"How do you _do_ that?"_

"Come on guys," I said, nudging the kids up the stairs. "There'll be somewhere quiet for you to sit, alright?"

They nodded, hands clasped tightly between them as the four of us trudged forwards; the woman at the front desk glanced up, and I almost expected her to frown at us, but she smiled instead.

"How can I help you?" She asked, her voice friendly and face open.

"We were wondering if we could use the computers?" I asked, a hand resting lightly on Angel's shoulder as Fang's arm wrapped around my back, rubbing my shoulder gently and soothingly, his other hand on The Gasman's shoulders.

"Of course, just sign your name here, and the number of computers you want to use." She smiled, pushing a little black book forwards. I nodded my thanks at her with the most natural smile that I'd given all day as I leant over the small book and signed, "_Ella Martinez._"

Just in case they checked that the people using their computers were actually _real._

"Computers are on the top floor, and the kids section is there, too – although they can just grab some books and sit on the beanbags in the computer room to read. Just leave them there and someone will return them later." She nodded at Angel and her brother. "Cute kids, by the way."

I smiled a little at her, blushing again as Fang muttered an embarrassed "thanks" and we surged forwards, heading towards the large staircase at the end of the long – and otherwise empty – room, long glass windows and doors showing the entrances to the main library part. Or, at least, the first floor.

"Everyone assumes they're ours." I said quietly, shaking my head a little as we headed up the stairs. "You must be ready to kill me by now."

"Nah," Fang muttered, hands in pockets and head down as the kids jogged up the long staircase in front of us. "I don't mind it that much. Normally means that they think I'm your boyfriend, or something."

"And that's a good thing?" I asked, my heart suddenly thundering in my chest.

"You're funny, witty, smart and beautiful." Fang laughed, sounding more serious than his laugh would suggest. "Only a crazy person would think that's a bad thing."

His eyes remained forward, refusing to meet my own confused ones. His comment hadn't helped my understanding of where I stood with him, but I found myself saying, after a pause, "I don't think it'd be a bad thing to be your girlfriend, either. For the record."

Fang's eyes flickered to mine in surprise, but I was already off the stairs and into the computer room, a blush staining my cheeks.

There was only a few other people in the room, and I sent the kids to grab some books whilst Fang and I grabbed a computer each. My eyes remained on the two of them until they'd pulled a beanbag up next to me and Fang and settled down – I noted that the two of them had gone for picture books, and wondered if they even knew how to read.

Finally, I turned to the computer and found myself unsure of where to start, much to Fang's amusement. I blamed it on the fact that he'd been the only one to use our computer back at the E-shaped house. Shaking his head a little he leant over and typed something into the box at the top of the screen and the website changed; he squeezed my knee gently before turning back to what he was reading.

There was a large box in the middle, underneath the word, "Google" and I assumed that was where I had to what I wanted to search.

Cracking my knuckles, I got to work.

* * *

"I give up." I sighed. It'd been four long hours since the four of us had first come into the library, and we were the only people that remained in the computer room. "My wings are cramping, my head hurts and I've found _nothing_. What about you?"

Fang sighed, shaking his head and leaning back. "I gave up a little while ago." He said honestly. "I've been looking to see if there were any more reports on the sightings of us in the restaurant."

"Get anything?" I asked, leaning over and hearing my back pop as I did. Fang winced a little, frowning, and shook his head.

"Looks like the government have decided it was just some elaborate hoax Hollywood did to gain publicity for a new film about angels. They've released an official statement and everything." He shrugged a little. "Looks like we're in the clear."

"That's good news, at least." I sighed. "What do you think—"

I was cut off by a sudden stab of pain in my head, and very nearly toppled sideways out of my chair from my rather awkward position. Fang caught my arm instantly, setting me right and crouching on the floor in front of me – his arms gripping my shoulders, holding me up as a Brain Explosion, less painful than the others, began.

My hands gripped his forearms as the computer screen in front of me went black.

"Not again." I managed to groan, and Fang's attention turned to the computer as it filled with large, neon green text.

_Hello again, Max._

"This is getting really creepy." I heard Fang comment dryly as another blast of pain found its way through my skull, projecting the image of a large, green-glass building onto the computer.

"What do you want from me?" I groaned, beginning to pant a little as the pain increased.

_To help you, Max._

The words flashed, before deleting themselves and being replaced by more.

_I know what you're looking for. You'll find it at Thirty-First Street. Good luck, Maximum._

The pain cleared a little and my body went limp, sliding out of the chair and landing on Fang's lap. His arms wrapped reflexively around me as I fought to get a little strength back into my limbs.

"Thirty-first street." Fang said eventually, and I nodded, before he cut me off again. "We're not going there today, Max."

"We have to find out more." I said stubbornly, wriggling out of his arms and onto the floor. The kids were watching us wordlessly. Fang sighed, shaking his head.

"We will, but not today. So much has happened already. We're all tired and hungry, and we're in no fit state to march straight into the Institute. Alright? I say we got to the mall and get some food, and then fly out to that beach that we saw on the way and rest up before we do anything."

I sighed, but found myself nodding

Fang had a point.

"Alright. Angel, Gazzy, grab your stuff – we're heading out." I said gently, before turning to Fang. "And we're checking out thirty-first street on the way. Just to get an idea of the building floor plan; the labs aren't exactly going to be out in the open now, are they?"

Fang sighed, but nodded a little. "We're only playing the tourist. No digging today, we can leave that for another time."

Fang turned the two computers off, and moments later we were hitting the streets. It was still only just after midday, and the streets were pretty full, but we managed to find our way to thirty-first street pretty quickly. When we were there, Fang scanned one side of the street, and I scanned the other – looking for anything that might give us an indication of what was going on.

"There." I said eventually, nodding towards a large green-glass building. The one from my brain attack. Fang nodded.

"Alright, Angel, Gazzy; I'll go and… inquire at the front desk with Fang, you two stick close to the doors alright. If there's any trouble, get gone; don't worry about us. Get into the sky as quickly as you can, and stay there until one of us comes to get you – alright?"

The two small children nodded, Angel's face worried. I headed forward, and pushed the large door open, being greeted instantly by a whoosh of cold air hitting my face. The kids stayed next to the door, pretending to look at leaflets as Fang and I headed forwards to stare at a map of the building.

I sighed loudly, Fang only seconds behind me.

"I can't see anything."

"Me either." Fang conceded.

_"Beneath every rainbow is a pot of gold, Max."_ The voice chimed in; as confusing as ever, of course. It couldn't tell me anything straight out, for _once_?

I rubbed my head, searching through all of the possible meanings of the statement before frowning a little and tapping Fang's arm, telling him to stay where he was. Glancing around the room, I quickly located the stern looking secretary and headed over, offering her my kindest, sweetest smile.

"Excuse me, ma'am, does this building have a basement?" I asked, crossing my arms on the desk and leaning forwards a little.

She frowned, the wrinkles on her prematurely aged forehead deepening. "I don't see how that's any of your concern."

"Part of a school survey, ma'am. About how the recorded levels in building heights aren't always accurate due to underground floors; so, do you?" I lied easily. Yes, I really am that smooth.

The woman stood up from her chair, slamming her hands on the desk and I backed up a few steps, startled by the sudden movement. Fang's hand appeared on my shoulder, around my back, gently tugging me backwards.

"Come on, Jenna." He muttered, and I was glad he'd remembered to use a fake name. "It's not worth it."

"But the projects due tomorrow," I complained loudly, partially for the secretaries benefit, and partly as a warning to Fang that I wasn't done yet. He moved his eyes to the side a little, and for the first time I noticed the security guards moving briskly towards us. Fang was suddenly moving, taking me and the kids with him as we bolted.

A quick glance behind me proved that the security guards were hot on our tails, and we picked up the pace to a full-out sprint, not stopping for another four blocks.

* * *

The mall was much bigger than I'd assumed it would be. About six stories tall, and crammed with an assortment of people, it was pretty much my definition of hell. Fang looked as nervous as me, and his hand squeezed my own as the four of us stood in front of it, studying the building. Angel was back in my arms, having been complaining loudly that her legs hurt – sometimes, it was almost like she had to remind us that she was only six.

The Gasman had been a little trooper, and was still walking along, his hand in Fang's other one, Fang holding the four of us together.

"Ready?" He asked eventually, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"No." I laughed, heading inside slowly.

The large automatic doors opened with a loud "whoosh" as we headed in slowly. I had to admit to being slightly amazing at the inside of the store; from the doorway it was easy to see all the way up to glass roof, five stories above us. It was a pretty spectacular sight.

"Excuse me." A guy said, as him and a girl stopped us not far from the door. I glanced around, wondering if they were security or something and we'd done something wrong already. "Are you interested in a free makeover?"

"Excuse me?" Fang returned, having clearly been glancing around like me and missed what the guy had said.

"A free makeover." The girl clarified. "Hair, clothes, everything. Once we're finished with you, not even your parents will recognise you. You'll look like someone completely new."

Fang and I exchanged a look, before I sighed at him and nodded a little. "It's completely free?"

"Yeah, except for extras like piercings and tattoos and stuff… you have to pay for those."

"Alright." I nodded. "Just, we want to stick together, alright? No splitting us up."

The girl nodded, with a huge smile and a fake-sounding giggle. "Of _course_ not, silly!"


	16. Fang V Ari

**Chapter Sixteen– Fang V Ari**

"Max, Max, Max." A familiar voice crooned, waking me from my sleep in the sand. A hand was running through my blonde hair; freshly washed, cut and dyed with hot pink and bright blue streaks. "Fancied a trip to the beach? I'm about to make it a whole lot better."

Ari was grinning down at me, his boot suddenly at my neck as I tried desperately to get to my feet and wake the others. He was leant over, running his hand down my face now as I turned it away from him, desperately trying to see the others.

"You know, I always thought you were beautiful, but I'm really rather liking this hair…" He whispered, scowling I turned back to him, spitting in his face.

"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." I said, wriggling underneath his boot and managing to spit rather spectacularly upwards, completely defying the laws of gravity to hit him in the face.

Ari laughed.

I'd just _spat_ in his face, and he freaking _laughed._

"I like them feisty." He grinned, leaning much closer than I was comfortable with. I turned my face away again, the fight seemingly gone out of me as my hands rested tightly on his boot and he leant so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek.

"_Get off her!"_ Fang roared, appearing from seemingly nowhere and tackling Ari off me. I was on my feet in a split second, relieved to see that Fang had obviously gotten the kids in the air before coming to my rescue. I made to race after him and Ari, but arms wrapped themselves around my waist and I found myself restrained by four burly erasers.

It was all I could do to watch helplessly, struggling in the grasp of the erasers as the two of them went at it.

Ari outweighed Fang by at least 110 pounds, but Fang was angry, and had a speed to him that Ari could only dream of. They were, it seemed, pretty evenly matched. Of course, because it's my life, I'd no sooner thought this than Ari was launching himself at Fang and taking the both of them down; cracking Fang's head off a huge rock as he did so.

"No!" A voice screamed. It took me a long moment to realise that it was me, voice thick with tears that I hadn't even realised were running down my face. "Please! Leave him alone, Ari! I'll do anything you want, _please_…"

Ari grinned, his eyes on me as he teasingly ran his claws over Fang's face, drawing blood.

"Ari. That's enough." A new voice snapped, and my eyes narrowed as Jeb stepped forwards out of the large crowd of erasers. "Max, how nice to see you again. I must say, you staged a rather meticulous escape from The School; it was a very-well formulated, and presumably pre-conceived, plan. You're doing well, sweetheart. Still my little "A" student."

"I'm not your little anything." I snarled, and the eraser holding me corkscrewed my arm; which had still, thanks to the constant movement of it, not fully healed from the gunshot wound. I bit back a scream of pain, and blinked back tears.

Jeb was frowning. "Dear, dear, Max. I thought that I'd taught you better than that."

"Just a second ago you were telling me that I was an 'A' student. Either I'm getting an 'A', or you 'taught me better than that'. Which is it?"

The eraser corkscrewed my arm tighter, and I bit my lip as a few more tears spilt over.

"Remember, I know what you're looking for." He said, and I felt my eyes widen in surprise; he'd just repeated what the voice in my head had said only a matter of hours earlier. Did that mean something? Or was Jeb just trying to guess me out? It didn't matter, he was talking again before I had time to work it out. "Alright. Head out, we've done what we came here to do."

I was suddenly laughing and crying at the same time, taking Jeb by surprise. "_Done what you came here to do?_ There was a time when you told me that Fang and I were like your own children, and now you're allowing Ari to…" I couldn't finish, shaking my head in disgust.

Jeb's eyes filled with an emotion that I couldn't place, and he frowned.

"It's all part of the bigger picture, Max."

I lunged at him, despite the loud popping noise that my shoulder made and the pain that it caused; the eraser behind me reacted instantle, smacking me around the head with something – which I presumed to be the butt of a gun or taser or something – sending me to the floor for a long moment. The world was swimming around me, and by the time that it had finally cleared Jeb and the erasers were gone, and the kids were landing.

Slowly, I dragged myself to my feet unsteadily, and wonkily made my way down the beach towards Fang; blood was dripping down my head from my temple, and my arm burnt terribly, but the important thing was that Fang was alright. Finally, I collapsed onto the sand next to his un-moving body, realising for the first time that I was still crying as I noted that he was still breathing.

Relief flooded through me, and I heaved a huge sigh as I checked for a broken neck. Satisfied that he was pretty much in one, slightly battered and bruised, piece, I rolled him more comfortably onto his back and leant over.

His temple was bleeding in a similar fashion to my own where it had collided with the rock, and Ari's claws had left three deep gashes alongside each other, with a shallower, fourth, one showing the outline of his hand as he'd dragged his claws along skin. His new black shirt was torn and ripped, but he'd been using his jacket as a pillow when we slept, so it had mercifully escaped.

His black jeans had been ripped, too, but I'd seen people wearing ripped jeans as some kind of fashion statement before, so that wasn't really an issue.

I was more worried about the fact that he was still out cold.

"Fang?" I asked quietly. "Fang, please wake up. I can't do this without you, Fang. I _need_ you."

Nothing other than a slight falter in his breathing, as though he was attempting a cough, but hadn't quite been successful.

"_Please_, Fang. Don't leave me; not you, too." I wiped a hand over his face, cleaning it with the sleeve of my new light blue hoodie that was now smeared with blood, dimly aware of the other two crying as The Gasman searched for a water bottle in the backpacks.

Still nothing.

Shaking, I leant closer, until I could feel his warm breath on his face and my hand was running through his hair.

"Come on, Fang." I whispered, vaguely aware that I was still leaning closer. "You're not _allowed_ to leave me; you're everything to me."

And then I kissed him.

For a few seconds nothing happened, and then Fang was kissing back. It took me a second to realise that he couldn't kiss me back whilst unconscious, and then I was pulling back and gazing into his familiar obsidian eyes.

"I've been waiting a while for that; you really took your time to realise." He managed, and then turned his head to the side, spitting out a mouthful of blood and looking slightly disgusted in a way that only Fang can. For a second I sat there dumbly, blushing furiously, and then I clipped him on his shoulder (which, thankfully, didn't seem to hurt) and helped him sit up.

"You're such a jerk. I was scared for your life, and you're mocking me." I growled, grabbing the water bottle from The Gasman and tipping a little over his head. His hair stuck to his face, and the water mingled with the blood on his face before beginning to drip off his chin. He blinked comically and glared at me from underneath his hair; cut short other than the part that fell over his eyes.

"Here." The Gasman said, placing what appeared to be my old shirt in his hands so that he could wipe his face, aided by the water that I'd just poured over his head. I smiled sweetly at him, before getting back to business.

"How do you feel?" I asked, rubbing his back a little as he took a mouthful of the water to rinse his mouth out and spat it on the ground.

"A little sore. Mostly murderous." He muttered darkly, stumbling to his feet. I was tempted to stand with him and make sure that he was okay, but I knew that he'd only get frustrated that I was fussing over him. He took a few steps, mostly to make sure that he was steady, I assumed, and then grabbed up his jacket and slipped it on – zipping it up to cover the tattered remains of his shirt.

"Your head—" He started, moving towards me with his hand extended. I batted it away, wincing at the use of my injured arm, and mock glared at him.

"I'm better off than you."

He sighed, slipping his hand back down to his side as he shook his head.

"Plan?" He asked, looking straight at me with serious eyes that showed no indication that just seconds ago we'd been kissing, and then he'd been teasing me. His words were a prompt, though, and I knew that I had to come up with something quickly to keep the kids from worrying.

"Back to New York." I said, after a short delay. "We can spend the night there, and tomorrow we find the institute. We need to finish this."

"I couldn't agree more." Fang nodded, leaning over to grab his backpack; for a second I nearly shoved his hand away, before realising that there was no way that I'd be able to carry two backpacks.

"Right, kids. You both ready to get gone?" I sighed, looking the two of them over. The Gasman nodded enthusiastically, and I frowned at the tear-tracks down their faces, bending down to pull them both in for a tight hug; they hesitated for a moment, before clinging to me and crying all over again.

For a second we just stayed there, and then Fang crouched down, wrapping his arms around the three of us and holding us to his chest.

For a moment, we almost felt like a family.

* * *

"I never thought I'd be this happy to see _this_ place again." Fang muttered, lifting The Gasman up onto the platform of the subway tunnels as I lifted Angel up; he hoisted himself up next, and turned to help me up only to find that I'd already managed to wiggle myself up through sheer determination. He rolled his eyes a little, but said nothing as we headed back to the same stretch of concrete as the last time.

"Alright guys," I muttered, lifting the kids up and getting them settled. "We'll get some sleep and then head out, alright?"

The two of them nodded tiredly, curling up together and falling asleep faster than I'd even thought possible.

I sighed a little to myself; my arm aching, head pounding and fighting to keep my eyes open as I slid onto the concrete ledge next to Fang and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"You had me scared back there." I said after a while, playing with the frayed leg of my pants, Fang shifted a little closer to me, squeezing my hand gently.

"I noticed," He grinned a little, before sobering up. "Sorry."

I shrugged; noting once again that Fang and I really sucked at this whole emotions lark. "It's alright. It's not like you chose for Ari to beat you up for defending me. Thanks for that, by the way."

Fang nodded, and hesitated a little before speaking again. "Max, what happened back there… it just wanted you to know that, well, I _liked_ it."

I instantly knew that he was talking about The Kiss, and coloured, my eyes refusing to meet his even though I could feel his eyes on me. "Really?"

"Really."

"I guess that's… good then?"

Fang chuckled, and my head whipped around to look at him, surprised to find that he'd leant so close that my sudden turning nearly had our noses banging together. Looking deeply into my eyes, he leant forwards further – he hesitated for a moment, giving me a chance to back away if I wanted to. I didn't.

"I'd say." He muttered.

And then we were kissing.

* * *

**A/N**

Alright then, listen up... THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE _LAST_ CHAPTER!

So... do you want an epilogue? Like, one that leads on to the second book?

It's up to you!

**_R E V I E W?_**


	17. The Institute

**A/N** Alright, so this is the last chapter, and I _hate_ it. And the epilogue.

I feel like I rushed them a little too much because I have so much other stuff to concentrate on, but I'm going to take my time with the sequel and (hopefully) make it a little less sucky than the end of this one turned out, so, **_please don't stop reading because of the last two chapters!_**

**

* * *

**********

**Chapter Seventeen– The Institute**

As was becoming rather common, my dreams transformed themselves into a brain attack.

This one was strange; different from the others – more like a dream that was causing excruciating pain than the flashes of images that I'd been receiving previously. I was walking deeper into the subway tunnels than we'd ever ventured before, moving with a purpose. Finally, I stopped, looking down at a grate in the floor, I began unscrewing it…

And bolted upright next to Fang, panting heavily.

The two of us had fallen asleep tangled up together, having kissed, and then failed at expressing our feelings for each other, and the sudden movement startled Fang so badly that he nearly fell off the concrete ledge.

"Max? What's going on?" He asked, grasping my arm gently.

I turned to face him, trying to compose myself. "Get the kids up."

"What?"

I was already moving, jumping down from the ledge and stuffing my hoodie in my bag. Fang jumped down after a pause, and grabbed my arm. "Max? What's going on?"

"I know where The Institute is."

"What? How?"

"I had a—never mind. Do you trust me?" Fang nodded. "Good, then get the kids up."

He did as he was told, gently rousing them as I set about packing our stuff – handing the backpacks out so that everyone got the right ones. Content that we weren't leaving anything important behind, I jumped down onto the tracks and closed my eyes before catching the kids and surging forwards.

For a while, the four of us simply walked; Angel and The Gasman asked little in the way of questions, which I was glad about, and soon we were reaching the little grate in the floor.

"Max? Is this it?" Fang asked, crouching down to help me as I started unscrewing the already-lose screws.

"Yeah, down here, two rights and a left – straight through their back door. They'll never see it coming."

Fang shook his head a little as the two of us lifted the grate off the top and chucked it aside.

"Alright guys," I said, grinning up at the two kids – who were watching us a little nervously. "I'll go down first, then Angel and The Gasman and then Fang, alright?"

Fang made to object but I nodded to one of his wrists, the sprained one, my meaning clear: he'd never be able to catch the kids with a sprained wrist. Not without causing harm to himself, at least.

Content that they'd do as they were told, I turned and slipped into the hole, my feet finding the ladders the second that they were inside, and grabbed the grimy rungs with my hands, scaling down into the dark without a seconds hesitation. Finally my foot hit the floor rather than the next rung and I sighed a little in relief as I realised that I was stood in… the sewer tunnels. Yuck.

I positioned myself underneath the ladder and called for Angel; she threw herself down trustingly, and I caught her before setting aside and catching The Gasman. I knew Fang would get annoyed, but I waited at the bottom for him, too. Just in case; call it paranoia.

He glowered at me when he got to the bottom, but I just shrugged and took the lead again, leaving him in the back of the group so he could glare at the back of my head as much as he wanted and I didn't have to see it.

Two rights and a left later, and we were faced with… a blank wall.

"I don't understand," I said exasperatedly, running a hand through my hair. "It was _right_ here."

Fang sighed. "It's just a wall, Max." He ran his hand over the wall for emphasis. "Just a plain, smooth- oh."

"Oh?"

"There's a crack. This might actually be a door."

Angel giggled, and I grinned at her.

"Alright, plan of action… we need to find a computer bank or _something_. Somewhere we can try to hack in and get some information on what they want on us." I instructed, moving forwards and trying to find some sort of handle or trigger. Finally, a slightly indented rock caught my attention and I glanced briefly at Fang – who nodded – before pressing it.

There was an agonisingly loud creak as the wall seemed to shift before my eyes, and then it was folding backwards, catching on some sort of hinge to hold it open, leaving a gap in the wall that lead straight into a… computer bank.

"Too easy?" I muttered to Fang.

He nodded, and then sighed a little and shrugged. "Probably a trap. Might be worth it, though."

I nodded. "Alright, stick close guys. We're not getting caught again, alright?"

I stepped hesitantly inside, half of me expecting alarms to blare or erasers to leap out from seemingly nowhere. Nothing happened; talk about anti-climatic.

"Okay; Angel, The Gasman – print off everything that _doesn't _require a password, Fang; you're with me. We're going to try to crack the passwords."

The three of them nodding, Angel and The Gasman moving to one computer and Fang and I moving to the one opposite them – closest to the two doors. I quickly hit the folder labelled "restricted", and Fang and I started typing words.

When _Max, Fang, __LMTGE941909EX2_, _BWTGE941508EX1_, _JGTGE942310EX3_, _ZATGE972911EX4_, _HWTGE020312EX5_ and _HWTGE041902EX6_ all failed, I hesitated before typing in Jeb's password from his computer back at the E-shaped house. An _"Access Allowed"_ message flew across the screen, and I slapped a quick high-five with Fang.

Selecting the "print all" button, Fang quickly located the second printer and started quietly and efficiently placing the papers into his backpack as I did the same with the ones that Angel and The Gasman were printing out. Finally, the printers stopped spewing papers and Fang and I exchanged a glance.

This whole thing had been too easy.

"Alright then, let's get out of here?" What was supposed to be a statement came out as a question, and Fang nodded hesitantly at me.

"Alright, Fang – you first, just in case." The dark mutant nodded, heading out of the door as I ushered the kids out after him; I was almost completely out when the hinge holding the door snapped with a crack under the pressure and swung inwards – knocking me inside… and straight through what I'd thought was a wall.

"Max?" Fang near-shouted, startled as he just managed to catch the door and push it open again, his muscles straining with the effort of holding the door open. Part of me wanted to run over and help him, the other was entranced by the sight before me.

A holding room.

Just like the ones back at The School.

Most of the cages held dead or dying experiments, the sight of which made my heart ache. Only two of them seemed alive enough to even recognise that someone had come into the room; two bird-kids, just like me.

"Angel, grab a chair or something so Fang can prop the door open and help me over here." I ordered distractedly, moving slowly forwards so as to not scare the two of them. The dark-skinned girl – in the cage closest to me – watched me with brave, brown eyes whilst her companion's presumably sightless blue eyes were a little off to the side.

"Who are you?" The guy snapped, shifting a little closer to the girl despite the bars – clearly ready to protect and attack in a heartbeat.

"A bird-kid, like you." The boy's eyebrows rose. "I'm going to get you out; you can call me Max."

The girl glanced at her head before nodding a little. "Alright Max, I'm Nudge; this is Iggy."

I nodded, and Fang appeared by my side, as I glanced around, finally locating a scalpel and handing it to him.

Jeb had taught us both how to pick locks using what we could find, but Fang had always been the better of the two of us. He picked the boy's cage first, and he stepped out hesitantly, seemingly unsure of whether or not this was a trap or some test of loyalty; followed by the girl, who seems a lot more enthusiastic to be out of her cage.

Which was, of course, when everything went wrong.

An alarm started blaring before I even knew what was going on, and Fang grabbed my arm – herding the others forward with his other hand. The six of us hopped the chair and I hesitated before stopping to pull it out – Fang too busy trying to coax the kids into flying over the sewer (which was, of course, faster) to realise that I'd fallen behind.

The chair was stuck, but I knew that we'd have a better chance if I could get it free.

Unfortunately, Ari got there before I could manage it, and leapt over it with a practiced ease that sent us dangerously close to the edge. I scrambled out of the way as fast as possible, but not fast enough to avoid a sharp kick to the ribs that caused a snapping noise that sounded none too healthy, and didn't feel great, either.

Standing quickly, I managed to avoid a second kick as Fang yelled my name, but Ari was faster than I'd anticipated, grabbing my shoulder and yanking me backwards. For a second, it was all I could do to grab Ari's arm, and then I was spinning – twisting us as the both of us fell backwards.

We landed hard, Ari underneath me as a loud crack filled the sewer.

Eyes wide, I scrambled off Ari; his neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and his eyes were wide and unseeing.

I'd killed him.

"Max," Fang grabbed my arm, yanking me backwards from the edge as I tried desperately to gulp in lungfuls of air, unable to drag my eyes off the seven-year-old. "Max, come on, we've gotta go."

I shook my head, and Fang slipped his arm around my back and lifted me to my feet, turning my head to face him. "We _have to go."_

Trying to pull myself together, I nodded, and followed Fang as he leapt into the air, turning the corner as a an anguished cry filled the air; my wings faltering as I heard it, tears dripping down my face.

Jeb had found his son.

"Maximum Ride!" He cried, voice filled with a pain that hurt my own heart. "You killed your own _brother!"_

My wings faltered again, and Fang glanced back, but both of us knew that we had to keep flying.

The kids needed us.

They were all we had left.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Okay, so... hope it didn't suck too bad XD

**_On another note. Do you guys want some Fang/Lissa, Sam/Max drama in the next one? It's up to you (mostly)!_**


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Been a long day, huh?" Fang asked, pulling me into his lap and holding me tightly as I buried my face into his shirt and nodded; it was a situation that had occurred before, but had a whole new meaning now that our relationship had taken a new – if not surprising – turn.

"Two new flock members, and information on all of us." I mumbled into his shirt, hesitating before continuing. "Do you think he was telling the truth? When he said that Ari was my brother?"

Fang sighed, rubbing my back between my wings. "It's hard to say. He could be telling the truth, he has nothing to gain by lying about that, after all, but then again… he hasn't exactly proven himself to be entirely truthful."

I nodded into his shirt, and the two of us fell silent for a while.

"So," Fang said after a pause. "Iggy and Nudge, huh?"

I pulled my head out of Fang's shirt, nodding again, relieved at the change in topic. "Yeah, I think they're going to fit in pretty well around here."

Fang grinned, nodding.

"Nudge and Angel seemed to get along pretty well; and Iggy and The Gasman, well… I have a feeling they might get along pretty well." I laughed, nudging him a little as I looked up at the four sleeping mutants.

Angel and The Gasman had found an almost blanket-like structure where loads of branches were twisted together and had curled up, falling asleep almost immediately. Nudge was on their left, the highest up and sleeping soundly against the tree and a second branch. Iggy was sprawled over two branches that were on pretty much the same level, sightless eyes closed and long limps thrown at almost unnatural angles.

I smiled a little at the sight, wriggling a little closer to Fang.

"You think we'll ever know what the stuff about us says?" Fang asked, changing the topic again. He was pretty chatty today. I knew what he was talking about, of course. When we'd taken a quick look at the papers in the retreating light of the sunset, they'd been coded - making no sense. Seemingly nothing more than random jumbles of letters and numbers.

"I'm not sure," I sighed. "We can try. I mean, I'm going to try my hardest, but God only knows what those scientists were thinking when they coded those papers. I'm sure that the code was designed to be unbreakable."

"I'm sure we can do it," Fang seemed strangely optimistic about the whole thing, leaning back against the tree trunk. "And even if you don't, its not that big of a deal."

I blinked.

"What? Fang, we're talking about your _parents._ About the _kids'_ parents. That's a _really_ big deal."

Fang shrugged. "So you're telling me your not even bothered that there's nothing about you in those files?"

That was another thing that our quick search had turned up. There was five groups of notes, one for every Flock member but me. "No. Not if it means that you guys get to find your families. That you get to settle down and live a proper life with parents, and friends, heck - even going to school!"

"It's not that big of a deal to me, at least." He amended, shrugging again. "Lets face it, even on the off chance that I _did_ find my parents, I don't think they'd be too thrilled at the prospect of taking in two mutant-bird freaks."

I made to object, and then realised what Fang had just said. "Two?"

"Well, its not like I'm just going to leave you, is it?" Fang frowned. "Its both of us or neither of us. Besides, a normal life hasn't ever really appealed to me."

"Fang?" I grinned. "I love you, you idiot."

* * *

Finish.

* * *

**_WINNERS OF THE COMPITION:_**

Alright, so, if you remember, there was a competition running for the person who submitted the most reviews; their prize was to have two characters present in the sequel. I've tallied all of the reviews, and have found our winner. Along with this, I have decided that the three runners up should recieve a little something as well. Although, I'd like to make two things clear.

**1) The same competition will be running throughout the second story, but with a different prize.**

**and**

**2) I do want to come up with more rewards for the four of you as book two progresses, SO, you'll have to keep on your toes!**

**So...**

**First Place**

The winning number was... **13 reviews,** by... **_xXMishaXx._** (See below for details on your "prize").

Second place, with **12 reviews**, was _**TwilightObsessedOECD**_. (See below for details on your "prize").

Third place, with **11 reviews**, was **_Lacking Stealth_**. (See below for details on your "prize").

and... fourth place, with **10 reviews** was **_Caris L Clearwater._** (See below for details on your "prize").

**In that soppy author way, I'd like to take a moment to thank every person who reviewed (especially the four of you!).**

Okay.

**First Place / xXMishaXx**

You will get a preview of the first chapter, and you will have **2** characters entered into the story, although I do reserve the right to edit them a little to fit the story better. They will both be _human_; preferable a male and female, but if you'd rather two of one sex will work too :). Please fill out the following, and if I need anything more from you I'll get back to you later!

Name:  
Nicknames:  
Gender:  
Physical Description: (_Skin tone, eye colour, hair colour, body build etc Try and make it as full as possible!)  
_Other:

**Second Place / ****TwilightObsessedOECD**

You will have a preview of the first chapter of the sequel. You will have **1 **character in the story, although I do reserve the right to edit them a little to fit the story better. They will be _human_, and either gender.

Please fill out the following, and if I need anything more from you I'll get back to you later!

Name:  
Nicknames:  
Gender:  
Physical Description: (_Skin tone, eye colour, hair colour, body build etc Try and make it as full as possible!)_

**Third Place / Lacking Stealth**

You will have a preview of the first chapter of the sequel. You will have **1 **character in the story, although I do reserve the right to edit them a little to fit the story better. They will be _human_, and either gender.

Please fill out the following, and if I need anything more from you I'll get back to you later!

Name:  
Nicknames:  
Gender:  
Physical Description: (_Skin tone, eye colour, hair colour, body build etc Try and make it as full as possible!)_

**Fourth Place / Caris L Clearwater**

You will have a preview of the first chapter of the sequel. You will have **1 **character in the story, although I do reserve the right to edit them a little to fit the story better. They will be _human_, and either gender.

Please fill out the following, and if I need anything more from you I'll get back to you later!

Name:  
Nicknames:  
Gender:  
Physical Description: (_Skin tone, eye colour, hair colour, body build etc Try and make it as full as possible!)_

**_PLEASE MESSAGE ME ALL PROFILES RATHER THAN PLACING THEM IN A REVIEW! THIS IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE!_**

**_FINALLY, PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR THE SEQUEL AND, AS ALWAYS, R&R._**


End file.
